


Precious

by minhoes (mydyingatheist)



Category: SHINee
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-26
Updated: 2014-05-26
Packaged: 2018-01-26 15:35:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 24,741
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1693490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydyingatheist/pseuds/minhoes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>At the start of each new year of high school, a new senior class is born. This year the senior class incorporated the all famous Kim Jonghyun and his right hand man, Lee Jinki. The two had been waiting for the end of their high school career since they had entered it. It was now their last chance to mess with the lives of their innocent classmates all while blowing off their studies, just like every other school year they’d sat through. This year was different, however. Jonghyun's newest prank invovled a certain Choi Minho, his heart, and a fake relationship that would go all haywire.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Hurts Like Heaven

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to everyone who read it this far. I hope it wasn't too cheesy. I personally felt like it was really cheesy when I was writing it. How did you guys like the story? Wait for the second part to come! Please comment and subscribe! 

It was a fair autumn day, a light breeze playing across the vast courtyard of the local high school. It was that time of year again - the start of school. Another year’s summer was wasted on time spent aimlessly browsing the internet and eating away teenage anxieties forgetting about summer assignments until the day before the start of school. In came a new senior class, this year incorporating the all famous Kim Jonghyun and his right hand man, Lee Jinki. The two had been waiting for the end of their high school career since they entered it. It was now their last chance to mess with the lives of their innocent classmates all while blowing off their studies, just like every other school year they’ve sat through.

 

“This year is going to be different,” Jinki commented, thoughtfully chewing his rubbery school pasta.

 

“Why do you say that?” Jonghyun asked from across the table.

 

“Because I have a plan.” A glimmer of excitement flashed across Jinki’s face when the word ‘plan’ rolled off his tongue.

 

Jinki was always the mastermind behind the friends’ antics. It was always Jinki who thought of some way to prank the teachers or get a bunch of girls to fight with each other and suspend the school session for the rest of the week. It was Jonghyun, however, who carried out the tasks to get the end result. Jonghyun was the driving force that put the words into actions. The two together were a powerful duo in the school’s delinquents. It would almost be appropriate to call them a ‘power couple’ despite their lack of sexual attraction towards each other.

 

“What’s the plan?” Jonghyun asked after some time, crumpling up his hamburger wrapper, launching it at the trashcan, and missing the bin completely.

 

“You remember that bet that we had over the summer?” Jinki questioned, smiling brighter than he was when he suggested he had a plan.

 

“The one where you bet I couldn’t steal alcohol from the corner store without the old man there catching me?”

 

“That exact one” Jinki beamed, a hint of laughter in his voice. “You failed.”

 

“That I did. So what’s my punishment?” Jonghyun sighed, sipping on his milk carton.

 

“Punishment? Is that what we are calling it now? Don’t be such a grump, Jonghyun.”

 

“I wouldn’t be such a grump if I knew you didn’t have something up your sleeve. You always throw curve balls at me Jinkers.”

 

“You know me too well,” Jinki chuckled, popping a chip into his mouth. “I have the perfect plan to leave this year with a bang.”

 

Jinki continued to munch on his chips, checking out a few girls as they walked by. Not that Jonghyun was angry his friend was prowling on those girls, but he really wanted to know just what his ‘punishment’ was. He cleared his throat loudly, become inpatient, attempting to break the silence. Jinki continued to avoid stating his point, munching away as he watched more girls walk by to go back to their classes.

 

“Spit it out already, Jinki! You are driving me crazy!” Jonghyun spat, forcing his friend to finally look at him.

 

“Fine, fine. You know that kid over there,” Jinki whispered, leaning closer to Jonghyun as he pointed at a nearby table.

 

“Which one? There are so many people in the cafeteria....are you talking about Sunny?” Jonghyun squinted to focus on the table Jinki was pointing at.

 

“No, no, no the table to the right of that. Ask him out. Just as a joke.”

 

Jonghyun fixed his gaze to the table next to Sunny’s and saw the person he least wanted to see. It was Choi Minho - a giant, antisocial freak who had had the biggest crush on Jonghyun ever since the last time anyone heard him actually speak. It was years ago the bothersome classmate had spoke for the first (and only time) to confirm that he had had feelings for Jonghyun. Ever since that day, Jonghyun had detested his existence. Jonghyun possibly hated the other boy for no reason at all, but, if confronted on the matter, he would simply say they ‘got into an argument and the other offended him so deeply he could never think of him as anything other than his enemy.’ No one actually had overheard this supposed argument, however, so it was Jonghyun’s word against Minho’s silence.

 

“Lee Jinki,” Jonghyun moaned, covering his hands with his face.

 

“You had to know this day was coming,” Jinki chuckled.

 

“I was hoping it wouldn’t, but what choice do I have?”

 

“I don’t take no for an answer.”

 

Jonghyun lowered his hands from his face to glare at his best friend. This was by far the worst request he had been asked to fulfill, even worse than the time he had to eat worms and drink soured milk.

 

“What do you want me to do while I date him?” Jonghyun asked, sighing deeply as he heard the words escape his own mouth. He couldn’t believe he was agreeing.

“It’s simple. Just follow these dates, and everything will go smooth.”

 

Jinki handed Jonghyun a list of organized dates and actions he was to perform. Jonghyun scanned the list, eyes finally reaching the last date, he gasped, dropping the list as a large smile spread across Jinki’s face. It was going to be their best prank yet.

 

~*~*~

 

It was another boring day in AP English and Minho wasn’t sure how much longer he could take rereading over his essay looking for ways to get his grade up from an 8 to a 9. He couldn’t care less if he got a perfect score on these papers, just as long as he passed them he was happy. He only got this high of a score on this particular paper because the topic interested him and his pen seemed to run effortlessly across the paper.

 

“Alright class,” Mrs. Park called, directing the students’ attention back to her. “Grab a partner and  peer review each other’s papers. Remember the AP exam is closer than you think! Every minute counts!”

 

Oh great, I’ll have no one to partner with as usual, Minho thought to himself as he shuffled his papers to the edge of the desk, preparing to nap through this group exercise. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to participate, it was the fact that no one ever wanted to pair with him.

 

He put his head down on his arms, closing his eyes beginning to focus on other things than class. To his surprise, however, he felt something tap his shoulder. He tried to shrug the feeling off, but he kept getting tapped. He opened one eye to see a platinum Jonghyun tapping him on the shoulder. Before he could register what was going on, Minho fell out of his chair from shock that someone was interacting with him - no - Jonghyun was interacting with him.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Jonghyun asked, extending his hand to the very confused boy on the floor.

 

Minho just stared back at him, rejecting his helping hand, placing his body carefully back in his seat. Minho went to lie down again, but was stopped when Jonghyun shoved his papers in Minho’s face, taking Minho’s with his free hand.

 

Minho looked down at the sloppy writing and tried to begin to read the other boy’s paper, but couldn’t focus because of the fact that Kim Jonghyun partnered with him in English class for a group assignment. What was going on with the world? Was Minho dreaming? Or maybe this was some sort of game. Where are the hidden cameras?

 

Minho looked up at Jonghyun, eyes wide with curiosity as he looked over the older boy, searching, praying there was some sort of camera or such explaining his sudden partnership. Jonghyun caught Minho’s eyes wandering, smiling as Minho locked in on his gaze and began to blush.

 

Minho silently cursed himself, wondering why he was blushing, even after all these years. He had thought he was over Jonghyun - over the butterflies he got when the elder smiled brightly; over the smile he felt creep on his face when Jonghyun spoke passionately about something he loved; over the unholy thoughts he wished were his reality with the boy seated across from him.

 

“Class, please now turn to your partners and discuss the corrections that could be made to their papers. Remember, even if you are friends, you need to critique their papers. Lying to make your friend feel better will only hurt them on the AP Exam,” Mrs. Park announced, causing the class to slowly stir to life, voices rising to a low hum immediately.

 

“So,” Jonghyun began, turning to Minho with a grin on his face.

 

Minho stared at him, trying to control his face from smiling at Jonghyun’s cute, goofy grin. Despite his attempt to control his face, Minho’s mouth quivered into a small smile. He felt heat begin to rise in his cheeks, turning away so Jonghyun wouldn’t see.

 

“I was wondering if you would like to hang out some time?” Jonghyun continued, trying to peek at Minho who was still turned away.

 

Minho literally felt his stomach rise up into the back of his throat. If he had attempted to speak at that very moment, he was sure no sounds would come out, just choking and blubbering. Did Jonghyun just really ask him to hang out? What was going on?

 

“We could hang out at my house if you want,” Jonghyun added, to make matters worse.

 

All Minho could do was shake his head ‘no.’ He turned to Jonghyun and shook his head, picking up the essay in front of him once again to examine it. Jonghyun had other thoughts, however. He grabbed the essay away from Minho’s hands and held the tall boy’s hand in his own. Minho looked up at Jonghyun and saw his face sincerely pleading. He mouthed a little ‘please’ that nearly sent Minho over the edge.

 

“Fine,” Minho croaked, barely loud enough for anyone to hear.

 

Jonghyun managed to catch that single word, that single syllable. He had laid down the bait and poor Minho had taken it.

 

~*~*~

 

Minho’s head was in a cloud later that same day. He couldn’t focus on anything or anyone but Jonghyun. It was starting to become bothersome to his best friend, Kibum, who watched his friend look through lifelessly glazed, confused eyes.

 

“Yah, what happened Choi?” Kibum finally asked, nudging his friend’s plate a bit. “You aren’t eating and you always eat.”

 

“I… Jonghyun,” Minho barely managed to croak. Kibum stared at him with wide eyes, slightly confused, but intrigued at the mention of Jonghyun’s name.

 

“What did Jonghyun do this time? I haven’t heard his name in a while,” Kibum chuckled.

 

“He… he asked me.... asked me out Key,” Minho muttered, rerunning the scene that had taken place earlier, trying to figure out if it had actually happened or if it was a dream.

 

“What?! Why didn’t you tell me sooner, Choi Minho?!” Kibum shouted, gathering stares from neighboring tables in the cafeteria.

 

“Quiet down,” Minho attempted to calm Kibum down, but failed.

 

“We should all hang out together. Wait are you guys boyfriends or like just casually dating? Why didn’t you tell me until now? When did this happen? Did you kiss him? Ahh Kim Jon-”

 

“Stop yelling in the middle of the cafeteria, Key!” Minho boomed, clasping his hand over his loud friend's mouth. “Let’s talk about this later.”

 

Minho slowly removed his hand from his friend’s mouth, shooting daggers from his eyes at the other when he began to open his mouth. Kibum quickly stuffed his mouth with some of his lunch rather than speaking. No one spoke when Minho made that face, not even Kibum.

 

~*~*~

 

It was awkward to say the least. Jonghyun was preparing for his ‘boyfriend’ to come over. He was due to be here in a matter of minutes, but Jonghyun wasn’t entirely sure yet what he was going to wear. Not that it mattered, but it mattered. Jonghyun liked to keep a neat, dressy appearance, or, so he told himself as he prepared for Minho to come over. He was fixing his hair for the umpth time when the doorbell rang, turning his attention from the mirror to the general direction of the front door.

 

“Okay Jonghyun, this is it,” Jonghyun whispered to himself as he walked over to the door. “This is my first chance to get things going.”

 

He paused, stopping mid-trip to the door, pondering on what if just said. Get things going? he thought. I meant get this bet going.

 

Jonghyun reached the door, opening it slowly to be greeted by Minho’s wide eyes staring down at him. Minho cautiously took one step forward, entering the Kim’s house for the first time.

 

“So I was thinking we could just hang out in my room or something,” Jonghyun muttered, his words stumbling into each other as he noticed how close Minho was to him now that they were both trapped in the cramped doorway.

 

“Sorry,” Minho apologized, taking two large steps away from Jonghyun.

 

“Where are you going, Min? My room is this way,” Jonghyun chuckled, trying to sound casual as he retraced his earlier trip back to his room.

 

The boys walked silently into Jonghyun’s bedroom, closing the door behind them as if to contain the discomfort the both of them were feeling. Even if Minho had liked Jonghyun for as long as the both of them could remember, Minho hardly knew anything about the other, making this fantasy he had always dreamed of more awkward than he would’ve liked.

 

Jonghyun didn’t know what to do next. He sat on his bed, but was not joined by Minho, probably due to the underlying intimacy a bed can hold. Minho just stood in the doorway, almost as if he was frozen. Jinki had told him it might be hard to break Minho into the concept of them ‘dating,’ but he failed to mention that Minho might not want to be any closer than five feet from him.

 

‘If it gets too awkward remember what he likes,’ Jinki muttered to Jonghyun once in the middle of a very boring lecture.

 

‘What do you mean awkward? Won’t he be like all over me?’ Jonghyun asked, confused as to why they were having this conversation.

 

‘Not with the way he reacted to you asking him out. I don’t think he’s very comfortable with socializing. He doesn’t even really have friends. So this is what you have to do: suggest to draw. The kid really likes drawing for some reason.’

 

“Hey Minho?” Jonghyun asks, standing up to face him. “Do you....wanna draw with me?”

 

“Sure,” Minho mouthed, walking over to Jonghyun’s small desk and sitting down.

 

Jonghyun pulled over a seat cube to sit next to Minho. He took out a stack of papers from his drawer and grabbed two pencils, noting how Minho moved himself slightly to make sure to avoid contact with his desk mate.

 

Minho started the picture with a few little lines, Jonghyun connecting them afterwards. They both stared at the small lead lines etched onto the paper, before looking at each other.

 

“When you said draw together,” Minho began, shifting a bit in his seat, “did you mean draw on the same piece of paper?”

 

“Why not?” Jonghyun shot back, a bit offended that Minho wouldn’t want to share this experience with him. “We are together. Isn’t this something you like to do?”

 

Minho shrugged, continuing to draw on the small picture they were randomly creating, causing Jonghyun’s blood to boil. How could he just shrug off something he was supposed to like, Jonghyun thought to himself. Jonghyun mentally noted to hit Jinki later for leading him down the wrong path.

 

The boys continued to draw, adding random shapes or characters to their drawing, soon filling up a large portion of the paper. They didn’t talk much during the activity other than a few oh’s and ah’s at each other’s doodles.

 

Jonghyun had grown comfortable in the current setting, becoming a bit too comfortable. His hand started idly drawing hearts. Minho’s eyes widened in shock, Jonghyun still mindlessly drawing hearts around various geometric shapes.

 

“Erm, hmm,” Minho hummed, trying to get Jonghyun’s attention, but the other was too far gone in his own thought to notice. “Jonghyun, what are you doing?”

 

“I...what?” Jonghyun asked, looking down to see the small trail of hearts. “Oh. It’s not...not...”

 

“It’s okay. I have to go anyways,” Minho quickly said, excusing himself from the desk.

 

Jonghyun waited until he heard the front door close before he laid his head down on the desk, staring at the little hearts. I didn’t mean that, he thought to himself, tracing the curves with his finger tips. Sighing, Jonghyun sat up, grabbing his phone.

 

    To: Jinki

 

    Done with the first date already. This is going to be harder than I thought.

 

    - J

 

~*~*~

 

The next day at lunch, Kibum kept pestering Minho with all the juicy details of his first date with the perfect god otherwise known as Kim Jonghyun. He was disappointed, however, when he heard of just how ‘spectacular’ the date had been and how Minho was more interested in his currently empty stomach.

 

“You mean that you, Choi Minho, the boy who has been in love with Jonghyun since forever, ran away when he drew a few hearts on a piece of paper? Are you a dumbass or is this how people normally act when they date their dream guy?” Kibum practically hissed at the bits of the story he coaxed out of Minho.

 

“I don’t know Kibum. I’m just really hungry and don’t want to really think about it right now. What else was I supposed to do? Something just feels really off. I mean he did just ask me out out of nowhere.” Minho paused, watching Kibum’s face slowly light up into a grin he knew all too well.

 

“Speaking of coming out of nowhere, here he comes, out of nowhere,” Kibum giggled, looking down before Jonghyun could catch his gaze.

 

Minho turned around, made eye contact with the other boy, and groaned loudly throughout the cafeteria, signalling others nearby to watch and stare as Jonghyun made his way over and seated himself next to Minho. With him, he brought a tray filled with more food than one boy would need.

 

“Hiya,” Jonghyun waved at Minho as he stared in disbelief at the newcomer.

 

“What are you doing here?” Minho hissed.

 

“I go to school here and have the same lunch as you. Don’t tell me you didn’t notice.”

 

Minho turned away from Jonghyun as his cheeks began to flush. Kibum, on the other hand, was on the edge of his seat bubbling with excitement. He was dying to embarrass Minho to his now boyfriend.

 

“So Jonghyun,” Key started, getting the older boy’s attention. “Do you normally eat like a cow or are you just wasteful?”

 

Minho shot Kibum a glare, but Kibum just smirked, knowing he was digging in all the right places and Jonghyun hadn’t been here five minutes yet.

 

“Uh, er, no. I was wondering...I was wondering if Minho was hungry.” Jonghyun turned to Minho. “Here, you don’t seem to have a lunch. Eat, please.”

 

Minho was given an extra set of chopsticks, which he stared at as Jonghyun scooted closer and took a bite of the food. Kibum’s jaw nearly fell off of his face as he watched this and, somewhere in the near distance, Minho could’ve sworn he heard one of Jonghyun’s girl groupies shriek in disgust. Jonghyun nudged him lightly, urging him to eat some too. Just as Minho was going to open his mouth in protest, his stomach growled loud enough for the whole country to hear. He pouted slightly, grabbing a piece of chicken and shoving it in his mouth before anyone could say anything.

 

They sat like that for the rest of lunch - huddled up over the single tray they shared, eating and talking briefly about random subjects that they were taking and how they were doing in them. Soon enough, Kibum spoke up, telling Minho it was time to go to their urgent oral interpretations club meeting.

 

“But Kibum,” Minho protested as he was dragged out of the cafeteria, “Oral interpretations isn’t until tomorrow.”

 

“I know,” Kibum stated matter-of-factly. “I just wanted to get you away from Jonghyun to show him that you have other priorities than him. He should know that just because you are dating, your life doesn’t always have to stop for him.”

 

Kibum had a point. Minho needed to make sure that he held strong in the relationship and didn’t fall under Jonghyun’s spell too hard. Even if this whole scenario seemed hard to believe, Minho didn’t want to be the needy loser who had to spend every waking second with his boyfriend.

 

Kibum peeked back into the cafeteria through the window on the doors, spotting a lost puppy Jonghyun walking around with nothing to do now that Minho was at this urgent meeting. Minho nodded, seeing that Kibum was right, smiling to himself, grateful he had such a good friend.

 

~*~*~

 

Dinner was definitely a date that was going to be on the list of dates Jonghyun was to conduct. Dinner at a fancy restaurant, however, was not specified in the fine details of the prank. Jonghyun waited for Minho on the Choi’s doorstep, Mrs. Choi smiling warmly as Jonghyun readjusted his tie for the umpteenth time that night.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Minho came down the stairs wearing fitted dress pants and a dark blue dress shirt, topped with a tight vest. A smile spread across Jonghyun’s face as he handed Minho a small box he had wrapped for him. Minho kindly took it, waving to his mother as Jonghyun guided him to his car.

 

The drive over was silent, but priceless. Minho opened the small box, careful not to undo the cute bow Jonghyun had tied around it. His face instantly lit up when he looked inside and saw a little braided leather bracelet. Jonghyun put his arm across the center console and pushed his sleeve up enough to show Minho he had one too.

 

They rolled up to the restaurant in a cloud of good vibes. Jonghyun led Minho to the quiet little table he had reserved at the back of the dining room. They sat down, quietly taking in the candle lit atmosphere. Minho watched the candle light dance across Jonghyun’s soft features before the silence was broken by the waitress. She leaned down, exposing a bit too much of her chest from her low cut shirt to Jonghyun. He uncomfortably shifted away from her, averting his eyes towards the center piece.

 

“What can I get you?” she asked only Jonghyun. Minho frowned a bit, seeing fully what was going on.

 

“You can take Minho’s order first,” Jonghyun waved towards the other seated opposite him. She turned reluctantly towards Minho.

 

“I’d like the steak, medium-rare please,” Minho stated calmly, handing her his menu.

 

“And now what would you like?” she asked, turning back too close to Jonghyun.

 

“I don’t really know. Minho, sweetie, what do you think would be good for me to eat?” Jonghyun asked Minho, pretending to not know what he wanted.

 

“You were talking about pasta earlier this week. Why don’t you order that?” Minho responded, clearly not comfortable using pet names as Jonghyun had.

 

“I’ll go with the ravioli then.” The waitress huffed, taking the menu from Jonghyun, before turning away.

 

“What a sour puss,” Jonghyun chuckled, pouring them both water from the pitcher on the table.

 

“Yeah,” Minho muttered, looking down into his lap.

 

“What’s wrong?” Jonghyun asked, his tone worried. Minho didn’t look up, however.

 

“I don’t know...it’s just...it’s stupid.” Minho fiddled with his hands, gaze still avoiding Jonghyun.

 

“I’m sure it’s not, Min,” Jonghyun said, reaching his hand across the table, trying to get Minho to look up.

 

“I just feel...sometimes I feel like this....us... wasn’t meant to be. I feel like it’s some sort of sick joke I’ve been living for the past month that no one has told me about.”

 

The look on Minho’s face was devastating. Jonghyun tried to swallow the lump in his throat, but was unsuccessful, forced to stare at the sad boy across from him. It was the first time Minho had ever truly expressed himself to Jonghyun since they had become a couple and Jonghyun couldn’t say a damned thing because it was all his fault Minho was feeling this way.

 

“I guess I’m just nervous because you are so....attractive... and you practically have groupies anywhere you go. I’m sorry. I’m going to use the restroom really quick.”

 

Jonghyun watched as Minho walked towards the other end of the dining room towards the bathroom. He whipped out his phone and immediately opened his texts to Jinki.

 

    To: Jinki

 

    Minho just told me he feels like our relationship is a joke?!

 

    - J

 

Jonghyun tapped his foot impatiently waiting for Jinki to respond. Ten seconds just wasn’t fast enough at this point.

 

    From: Jinki

 

    You didn’t blow the plan, did you?

 

Jonghyun bit his lip, debating if he actually should blow his cover now rather than later.

 

    To: Jinki

 

Of course not! The entrees haven’t even been served and I’m really hungry. Also, I’m in this until the end, okay?

 

\- J

 

When Jonghyun saw Minho coming back towards the table, he pocketed his phone and waited for the taller boy to seat himself. Just when Jonghyun was about to voice his opinions on Minho’s fears, the food came, saving him the trouble of lying more than he already had to. They ate most of the meal silence, but when they did talk, to Jonghyun’s luck, they limited the topics to just school, sports, and their friends - the usual topics.

 

When they had paid and exited, Minho turned to Jonghyun, breaking the lull of the parking lot.

 

“I’m sorry for my insecurities earlier. I guess I just have to trust you more. You have been really good to me afterall,” Minho half whispered, scratching his neck awkwardly.

 

Without warning, Jonghyun grew closer to Minho, their noses almost touching. Minho felt Jonghyun slip his hands onto Minho’s slender waist, holding his still as he leaned in. Jonghyun placed a gentle kiss on Minho’s plump lips. It was their first kiss after their first real date. When they pulled back from each other, the world seemed to have changed. Jonghyun was feeling a bit confused that he had actually done that, but it was all for the prank, right?

 

“Don’t worry,” he whispered, nudging his face close to Minho’s again, lips ghosting by the taller boy’s. “You can always trust me, Choi. Don’t you forget that.”

 

Jonghyun walked towards the car leaving Minho blushing in the middle of the parking lot, feeling more puzzled than calmed by his boyfriend’s actions.

 

~*~*~

 

Sprawled on Jonghyun’s bedroom floor, Minho leafed through his math notes, idly taking in the information he was supposed to be studying, but it wasn’t processing. He rolled over, sighing loudly, covering his face.

 

“What’s wrong?” a small voice asked from above him.

 

Minho peeked one eye from in between his fingers and saw Jonghyun leaning over the side of his bed looking down at him. His ruffled hair and collar bones revealed from under his oversized lounge shirt struck the wrong spot with Minho, forcing a blush to creep onto his face. He turned over again, sighing into the carpet. Why was this so complicated?

 

“Fine don’t tell me,” Jonghyun huffed, crawling back onto the bed properly. He kept peeking over, however, at the boy on the floor, face hidden from view. It was sort of cute, when he thought about it, how he always seemed to move the boy so immensely with a small smile or the bat of his eyes.

 

Sometimes Jonghyun thought Minho was genuinely a good guy. Maybe Jonghyun had just misunderstood the taller boy - judged the book before he read the story. Other times, Jonghyun felt bad he was pulling Minho along this bumpy ride, knowing the end result would be crushing. Telling him on the dance floor during prom that this - they - weren’t real was just.... cruel. At the time Jinki had mentioned the idea of Jonghyun doing such a thing, it was really funny, comical gold even. Now, however, as Jonghyun peered down at the innocent boy below him, who spent nearly every minute of his spare time with him, he just couldn’t see himself hurting the other that way.

 

Of course he was starting to feel for Minho, but the real question would soon surface, changing everyone’s life upside down. Sighing, Jonghyun looked back at his magazine, flipping page after page, waiting for Minho to finally crawl out of his little hiding spot in his arms.

 

~*~*~

 

Strolling through the park at night, the two lovers could be spotted holding hands. It was a pleasant winter night with a bit of a nip in the air, but nothing a light sweater couldn’t fix. Jonghyun led Minho around, taking him to sit on the swings, fingers laced as they swung low over the mulch that covered the play area. There were no lights that lighted the park after hours besides the light from the bright moon. It basked a light blue glow over the two, showing only certain features in the dim light.

 

Minho thought Jonghyun was prettiest when his sharper features were shadowed in dim lighting. This was no exception to that thought. The moonlight glow made Jonghyun’s features shine even brighter than how they did in the sun and Minho, for the first time since he had really gotten to know Jonghyun as a person, could admit he was smitten. Jonghyun was more perfect than he could ever imagine and, on top of it, he was incredibly stunning, not a single flaw in sight. Even if Minho was a little biased, he couldn’t even try to think of a flaw when it came to Jonghyun. Everything about him was so ideal the thought of him having a flaw was silly. Besides the few rocky conversations they had had before Jonghyun had started dating him, Minho couldn’t think of a single negative thing that Jonghyun had even said about him, imperfect little Choi Minho.

 

Minho pulled Jonghyun’s swing close to his own, sealing their lips in a long, drawn out kiss. He didn’t need to say why anymore. They both just knew that that kiss was them as one. It was them showing complete trust and care towards each other. And in that, Minho felt safe for the very first time in his young life.

 

~*~*~

 

Christmas was around the corner, making the mall a busier place than normal. Jonghyun had reluctantly gone to the crowded building after Minho practically paid him in cash to come with him (also Jinki screaming at him over the phone to go on the date regardless if he hated crowds). So, there in the mall, stood a grumpy Jonghyun, being pushed this way and that by shoppers running around like chicken with their heads cut off, trying to get all the gifts on their shopping list. Minho, on the other hand, was happily searching through the clothes racks filled with a number of types of sweaters.

 

“Jong. Jongie. Jong,” Minho whined, trying to get Jonghyun’s attention.

 

“What do you want?” Jonghyun barked, pushing through shoppers to get next to Minho.

 

“Jeez, you don’t have to be so mean,” Minho cautioned.

 

“I’m sorry. What did you want, Min?” Jonghyun asked as calmly as he could manage.

 

“I was wondering if you wanted to get matching holiday sweaters?”

 

“Like.....like....couple sweaters?” Jonghyun stammered.

 

“Sorta.”

 

Minho blushed, turning back towards the sweaters to try and hide it, but Jonghyun already saw the pink tint rise in the taller boy’s cheeks.

 

“Yah, why are you blushing, Choi? Do you like me that much?” Jonghyun teased, poking his side.

 

“No.”

 

“Liar.”

 

“I’m not lying.”

 

“Say it to my face then.”

 

Minho turned, opening his mouth to say he was telling the truth, but stopped when he saw how adorable the sweater Jonghyun had picked out, especially when Jonghyun held it up to himself, pretending to try it on. Minho shut his mouth, picking up the same sweater in his size.

 

“That’s what I thought,” Jonghyun joked to himself as they walked to the dressing rooms together.

 

The boys both entered separate rooms, vowing to show each other what they looked like after they put on the sweaters, no matter how ridiculous it actually looked on them. Minho was the first one done changing, waiting in the changing room hallways for Jonghyun to come out. Jonghyun did come out, but he had changed back into his normal shirt, sweater slung over his tanned arm.

 

“Hey, we said we would show each other,” Minho said.

 

“Yeah, but it was actually the worst thing I’ve ever placed on my body.”

 

“But you picked out the sweater. Just put it on and show me.”

 

“No, let’s go. It’s too crowded.”

 

“No, Jonghyun, you have to play fair. I put on your stupid sweater, now you do it,” Minho nagged, standing his ground.

 

Jonghyun sighed loudly, noticing a line starting to form to use the changing rooms. “You aren’t going to let us leave until I try this on, are you?”

 

“Nope,” Minho shook his head, turning Jonghyun around and pushing him back towards his dressing room.

 

Reluctantly, Jonghyun went back in his dressing room and pulled the sweater on, scowling in the mirror at his bright, wintery look. He should’ve never picked the sweater up in the first place, but there was no turning back now. He exited the room once more, seeing Minho’s face light up instantly.

 

“It looks so handsome on you, Jong!” Minho cheered, pulling Jonghyun close to his side so they both faced the mirror.

 

“Are you wanting to buy these?”

 

Minho nodded his head proudly, turning back to change into his normal clothes to go pay.

 

Although Jonghyun didn’t admit it at the time, he thought Minho looked really good in the sweater. He also thought he, himself, looked fantastic in the sweater. Minho never ended up telling Jonghyun that he hated the holidays, nor did he tell him he especially hated holiday sweaters. It was just another set of secrets in a relationship built on lies.

 

~*~*~

 

“Going away to a college visit all weekend?!” Jinki shrieked in the middle of the library, getting dirty looks from numerous students.

 

“Shhh. Shut your mouth. I’m sorry. There was no way around it. My mom booked the tour like months and months ago and would be so pissed if I bailed out at the last minute. She really wants me to go to this school. Plus, it is one of the schools I’m actually interested in attending.” Jonghyun sighed. Why did everything revolve around Minho recently? Couldn’t he do something for himself for once?

 

“That important? I guess it’s ok....but make sure to contact Minho, okay?”

 

“Just shut up and let me study,” Jonghyun joked, opening a new game of solitaire on the computer he was using.

 

Click, click, click, 10 points.

 

~*~*~

 

Sexyjjong_90 is calling you

 

Minho squinted at the computer screen, mentally slapping himself that Jonghyun’s Skype username was really Sexyjjong_90. I guess you win some, you lose some, Minho thought to himself as he clicked the green answer button.

 

“Minho!” Jonghyun screeched on the other end of the call, turning on his video to show his outrageously goofy smile.

 

“Hiya, Jong. How’s the college?”

 

“Good. I really like it, but it has one thing missing.”

 

“What’s that?” Minho asked, fumbling with the mouse as he clicked on his video. Of course, with his luck, his internet was connecting slow, making his face all pixelated.

 

“It’s missing....you!” Jonghyun teased, putting his fist on his face, batting his eyelashes.

 

“Yah, why are you being so cheesy?”

 

“I miss you, Minnie. I want to come home.”

 

“But you said you liked the college, no?”

 

“I do.”

 

“So?” Minho pressed, waiting for the verdict of Jonghyun’s decision.

 

“I think I’m going here. They have already accepted me and are going to give me a scholarship big enough to make my freshman year free!”

 

“Way to go, baby!” Minho cheered.

 

Jonghyun’s eyes grew in shock. Did he just...?

 

“Did you just call me baby?” Jonghyun questioned, ignoring the celebration that should be happening.

 

“No...I...did I?” Minho said, pretending to play dumb.

 

Before Jonghyun could ask again, and make sure he had heard Minho right, the ‘called ended’ screen popped up asking him to rate the quality of the call. Out of frustration, Jonghyun gave Skype a 1 star performance rating because they let his boyfriend hang up on him after he had done the cutest thing anyone has ever done in front of him. Thanks a lot, Skype.

 

~*~*~

 

“I was thinking of moving the date of the big reveal that this whole thing is a scam closer,” Jinki thought out loud one day, as he was laying upside down reading a magazine on his living room couch.

 

Jonghyun’s concentration snapped from the video game he was currently playing to the older boy. The only sound that could be heard was the sad noise of defeat after Jonghyun’s player had been gunned down, but that didn’t matter to Jonghyun at the moment. If they moved the date of the reveal, he wouldn’t get to spend time with Minho. It was as simple as Jonghyun liked spending time with the big-eyed kid.

 

“Uh, why would we do that?” Jonghyun asked a bit defensively, abandoning the gaming console all together to fully face Jinki.

 

“Why wouldn’t we? You should be thanking me for saving you from spending an abundance of time with the freak. Plus, I never really get to see you anymore anyways, so it would be nice to have my friend back.”

 

Jonghyun pouted slightly. What Jinki was saying made him feel bad. He had been spending a lot of time with Minho, but he hadn’t been feeling tortured or whatever Jinki thought spending time with Minho was. At the same time, Jonghyun couldn’t let Jinki and Minho into the same room because Jinki might spill the beans or might be overly rude to Minho. Jonghyun didn’t want either of them hurt, but he didn’t really know how to express that to Jinki.

 

“Er-,” Jonghyun began shakily, thinking of an excuse. “Why would we cut the plan so short and not see it out?”

 

“Do you really like dating Choi?” Jinki scoffed.

 

“Are you a quitter?” Jonghyun retorted, a sneer hinting in his voice.

 

“Not me. I was just trying to save your sorry ass.”

 

Jonghyun stared at his best friend speechless. He wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t sure even if he had words if he would even know how to say them. Jonghyun began idly playing the video game again starting off at a recent checkpoint he had saved at. When the game got to a long storyline, he briefly mentioned ‘continuing the joke’ before returning to quietly shoot people while Jinki read.

 

~*~*~

 

It was Jonghyun’s birthday. Minho had known it would be Jonghyun’s birthday for quite some time. He always knew when the event was coming up in the year. It was just a fact that was integrated into his life, but this year he was allowed to celebrate it with the owner of the event.

 

It had taken Minho a long time to figure out what he would get Jonghyun. It seemed that the boy had everything: looks, popularity, a college ready for him, friends. What else could he need? What would be something special Minho could do for him that would stand out from everyone else’s gifts?

 

The idea came to Minho one day in math when he found himself idly doodling in the margins of his notepad as his teacher stopped lecturing over test materials and started rambling about studying for the AP Calculus exam before the date of the test and creating a study plan for those who haven’t. Minho had already done so, however, and was quite comfortable with his calculus skills, so the teacher sounded more like a broken record that wouldn’t stop. He watched his pencil draw soft grey lines, outlining a handsome boy. At that moment it dawned on him.

 

“Jonghyun,” Minho muttered out loud.

 

“What was that, Choi?” the teacher asked, making the whole class turn to Minho.

 

“Nothing, Sir,” Minho apologized, scolding himself mentally for being so stupid to whisper his name out loud in class.

 

He spent the rest of that lecture on the edge of his seat, speeding through practice AP questions like no one’s business. He had to get out of that class and execute his plan - the perfect plan.

 

~*~*~

 

The car ride down to the beach was quiet. Minho had been acting strange all day even though Jonghyun clearly had stated many times for the past month and a half his birthday was today. Jonghyun was slightly annoyed by the time they were pulling up to the sandy shoreside and Minho still had not said a word.

 

They gathered their beach chairs and towels, hiking their way out to the perfect spot with the best view of the ocean and set up camp. They both settled down into their beach chairs, watching to waves roll in out out of the edge of the shoreline. In the distance, a kite could be seen soaring in the fresh sea breeze, fluttering as high as the seagulls.

 

The sun beat down hard on the beach, eventually making shirts stick uncomfortably to skin. Minho was the first to rip his shirt off in frustration, wiping down his sweaty abs with a towel turning heads. Jonghyun didn’t seem to notice until after he heard a few distant whispers and embarrassed giggles from nearby sun bathers.  He looked over the his sunglasses at the boy seated next to him and felt his jaw nearly fall off.

 

“Min....ho?” Jonghyun questioned hesitantly.

 

“Yah, what’s up?” Minho asked as he lathered his skin in sun lotion.

 

“Nothing,” Jonghyun barely managed to gasp, turning away from the suddenly attractive Minho.

 

I didn’t know he worked out, let alone he was ripped, Jonghyun thought to himself biting his lip nervously. He was feeling funny, sick even. It was hard to describe how he was feeling. It was a mix of happiness when you get your first car with falling off the edge of the Empire State Building. It was a great feeling and a bad feeling mixed in one, but he felt strangely aroused.

 

“Well anyways,” Minho began, sparking  new conversation. “I figured since we came here for your birthday and we are together or whatever, I should get you something.”

 

Jonghyun perked up, keeping his eyes glued to Minho’s face to avoid his toned body. “Oh?”

 

“Well I didn’t really get you something,” Minho explained, reaching into his bag.

 

“Wait what?”

 

“Here.”

 

Minho handed Jonghyun a large, rolled up piece of paper. Jonghyun looked from the roll to Minho to the roll and back again. He slowly opened the paper and felt tears begin to bubble in his eyes. It was absolutely...

 

“Beautiful,” he choked, trying to contain his feelings.

 

On the paper was a hand sketched portrait of Jonghyun, highlighting his high cheek bones, soft lips, and sparkling eyes. Even though it was something that wasn’t bought or something he couldn’t necessarily use on a day to day basis, it was the best gift he had ever received from anyone. He was about to express his gratitude to his lover when his phone buzzed.

 

    From: Jinki

 

Don’t forget we have a video game day planned after your date casanova. Hurry up         before I eat all the take out food.

 

Reluctantly, Jonghyun told Minho they would have to leave soon even though they just got there. To make matters worse, Minho asked if they could come back in the summer...but little did the other boy know, they were only to be together for a few more weeks, breaking up well before summer starts.

 

~*~*~

 

“I think it’s time to break up with him.”

 

“W-What?!” Minho sputtered, a bit of the drink he was drinking from escaping down his chin as he looked at Kibum in disbelief.

 

“It’s time to break up with your boyfriend. You know? Jonghyun? I feel like there’s something bad going on with him,” Kibum sighed, examining his nails as he went on about Minho’s boyfriend.

 

Now that Minho thought about it, he had gone on more about Jonghyun than Minho had the whole time they have been dating. It was sort of annoying at times, Kibum punching jabs at Jonghyun out of the blue for no reason. It was as if Kibum was trying to make Jonghyun look like a bad person. It was if...

 

“Are you jealous?” Minho asked straight forward.

 

“No!” Kibum barked. “If I really wanted you Minho, I would’ve made my move way before Jonghyun was in the picture.”

 

Minho narrowed his eyes at the blonde seated across from him. It was so unlike Kibum to go against something he knows Minho has wanted desperately, especially when it has nothing to do with him.

 

“Look, I really want to be with Jonghyun, ok? Like we have been doing really good together ever since we kissed and stuff. Like back off,” Minho defended, still glaring.

 

“Choi, he’s up to something. No offense but why did he really ask you out?” Kibum waited a second for an answer, but didn’t receive one. “That’s what I thought. Go ask him to tell you honestly before you come gloating about how great your life is suddenly.”

 

Before Minho could tell Kibum to stop acting like a selfish brat, the blonde stormed off, leaving Minho alone at the table he was seated at in the lounge, getting stares from numerous onlookers.

 

~*~*~

 

“So I was thinking we could just gather all the information for this project this weekend,” Jinki explained to Jonghyun, staring at the outline in his hand.

 

“Sounds good,” Jonghyun agreed, showing a goofy grin to the other. “What if we just di-”

 

“Jonghyun,” Minho interjected, approaching the set of friends.

 

“Ah, Minho. What brings you here?” Jinki asked, looking up at the tall boy. He was ignored, however.

 

“Jonghyun, we need to talk,” Minho said, his voice oddly eerie.

 

“Right....right now?” Jonghyun asked, looking down at all his assignments he was actually working on.

 

Before he could try to argue, he was being pulled from his seat by Minho who, not to his surprise after seeing how toned his body was at the beach, was exceptionally stronger than him. Minho towed him out of the building they were in and towards the backsides of the portables. When he finally checked around the corners of the buildings to make sure they were alone, he let go of Jonghyun’s arm.

 

“Aish, that hurt Minho,” Jonghyun whined, rubbing his arm. “What is it? Do you want a cheap make out session behind the portables, because I don’t go that low.”

 

“Cut the shit, Jonghyun,” Minho spat, slamming a hand next to Jonghyun’s head, trapping him between Minho’s body and the portable wall.

 

“Okay, I’m sorry,” Jonghyun muttered in a small voice.

 

“Tell me the truth,” Minho demanded, closing the distance between them so Jonghyun was forced to look at nothing other than Minho’s face.

 

“What truth? What are you talking about?”

 

“Why the hell did you ask me out?”

 

Jonghyun just blinked. He looked at Minho with wide eyes, as if he was confused. It was a simple question, Minho thought, pinching the bridge of his nose. What was so damn hard about answering why he asked him out in the first place. It shouldn’t be a mystery.

 

“Answer the damn question Jonghyun,” Minho demanded.

 

“I don’t know, Minho. Why are you- I mean I guess I just thought you were a cool guy?”

 

“A cool guy? A cool guy? Ha...fucking... are you kidding me right now Jonghyun. We hadn’t even talked before you asked me out. Tell me right now what my favorite sport is. What is my favorite food? When is my birthday? Tell me.”

 

Jonghyun stared at Minho, feeling smaller and smaller by the minute. He was aching, because he felt for the boy. He was sure the boy could see behind this false front Jinki had created for him and it made him ache, but he couldn’t apologize. Not now anyways. He was trapped between a wall and Minho’s incredibly strong arms. He valued his face a bit more than telling the truth in this instance, but still he was at a loss for words. He thought he couldn't feel any worse until he heard Minho’s next statement.

 

“That’s what I thought. You aren’t even that interested in me. It’s all just fun and games for the great Kim Jonghyun,” Minho sighed, dropping his stance, and turning away.

 

“Minho,” Jonghyun managed to choke despite the large lump in his throat. He grabbed Minho’s wrist, but Minho ripped it out of his grasp.

 

“Are you even gay, Jonghyun?” Minho sobbed looking back at the shorter boy, tears streaming down his face at this point.

 

Jonghyun went to open his mouth, but Minho just kept shaking his head and backing away. Jonghyun just waited, waited for Minho to somehow come to his senses and realize that they were a thing...whatever that thing may be, but he didn’t. He kept backing away, now out of arm’s length.

 

“Minho,” Jonghyun gulped, scared to speak.

 

“No, Jonghyun. I’m not going to do this, if you don’t even know why this is what it is. I need my life back,” Minho sniffed.

 

As he walked away, Jonghyun could’ve sworn he heard Minho mutter ‘I knew it was too good to be true,’ but it could’ve been his mind playing with him.

 

~*~*~

 

Jonghyun sat down next to Jinki, staring blankly at the textbook laid in front of him. He wasn't reading it, he wasn’t even really looking at it. He was just there, numb. It seemed as if the world had just turned upside down.

 

“You okay?” Jinki asked, shoving Jonghyun’s shoulder lightly. Jonghyun didn’t move, however. He just sat there idly staring into space. “Jonghyun what’s wrong?”

 

“He broke up with me,” Jonghyun barely managed to whisper, before lying his head down on the textbook taking a jagged breath in. “He broke up....with me?”

 

“Oh my god. No. This wasn’t part of the plan. God damn-”

 

“Shut the hell up. Shut up about the stupid plan, okay? He broke up with me. Minho is more important than some plan!” Jonghyun shrieked, face now buried in the textbook.

 

“Is he okay?” a voice asked Jinki, but slowly understood the answer was ‘no’ as Jonghyun wailed over his loss.

 

Jinki sighed, running his hands over his face, slamming his notebook shut. It was going to be a long day.

 

~*~*~

 

Kibum was fuming, sitting on a bench in the center of campus, attracting a lot of unwanted attention. He could blame himself, of course, for sitting where he is seated, but he couldn’t help the fact that Minho was being a complete idiot. Even though Kibum was happy for him, something about Jonghyun asking him out wasn’t right. This wasn’t some fairy tale where Minho lusts over his dream boy for years and years and one day they bump into each other and Jonghyun is smitten. Life just doesn’t work like that.

 

“Are you okay? Jeez, everyone is having a really bad day or something,” a voice called from behind Kibum. He turned around to see the voice owner was none only than his freshman friend, Taemin.

 

“No, Taemin. There’s a lot of unnecessary drama since Minho started dating Jonghyun,” Kibum sighed, rubbing his hands together nervously. “I think Jonghyun is using him for some reason other than the fact he likes him. I can sense it.”

 

Taemin’s eyes widened, before he leaned in, making sure no one could hear him say, “Don’t tell anyone, but Jonghyun actually likes Minho. He was just crying in the study hall to Jinki about how Minho is more important than some plan.”

 

“What do you mean some plan? Why was he crying?” Kibum whispered back.

 

“Minho broke up with him and all Jinki could say was how worried he was about the plan because the plan is ruined now.”

 

“Oh my god, Taemin, you know what this means?!” Kibum gasped out loud.

 

“What?!”

 

“Minho beat the pranksters,” Kibum smirked, feeling a little better over the whole situation.

 

“Oh that kid,” Taemin sighed, leaning back to rest he head on the back of the bench.

 

“Yah, he’s older than you! Now we just have to keep him from getting too depressed over Jonghyun, even if Jonghyun’s feelings were somehow sincere. Minho deserves better.”

 

“Agreed.”

 

~*~*~

 

Jinki corrected his previous statement saying “it was going to be a long day” to “it had been one hell of a week”. If he hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought Jonghyun was actually in love with Minho. The boy was oddly quiet and was very antisocial ever since the incident. It was starting to eat away at Jinki. All he wanted was his friend to be back to normal. He had just the cure Jonghyun needed.

 

“Jonghyun,” Jinki called across the halls, spotting the shorter boy in a break in the crowd.

 

Jonghyun nodded, walking less excitedly than Jinki was to meet the other. He looked around, before leaning against the lockers, waiting for his friend to speak.

 

“Still not feeling so good?” Jinki asked, placing a hand on Jonghyun’s should.

 

Jonghyun frowned, shaking his head. He went to walk away, but Jinki pushed him lightly back into the lockers.

 

“Why don’t you come out with me tonight, and we will get you feeling better, huh?” Jinki smirked. “Don’t say no because I already said you are coming. I’ll pick you up at eight tonight.”

 

Before Jonghyun could object, Jinki was lost in the crowd. Jonghyun began shuffling his way to his next class before he remembered it was english - his class with Minho. He stood outside the door to his classroom, the late bell ringing in the distance, before he turned away and refused to enter that class for the fifth time that week.

 

~*~*~

 

Minho was seated at his desk in his bedroom, notebooks and papers alike thrown everywhere. He was studying, as usual, making a mess of his normally neat room. Every document he touched made his head pound and his concentration was slipping. Sighing, he threw the current notebook he was staring at across the room. Studies for the AP exams soon were just not going to happen.

 

This week had been awful. He could blame himself for being over dramatic with Jonghyun, but there were so many other factors that made this week a complete utter disaster. He had exam after exam without a break not to mention he had a research project due Monday he hadn’t even started.

 

He laid his head down on his desk, closing his eyes for a minute. Before he could slip into a soft sleep, his phone began ringing. He looked at the call I.D. and nearly threw the phone where his notebook had just flown.

 

“Why is Jonghyun calling me?” Minho groaned into his desk.

 

Going against his better judgement, he answered the call.

 

“Hello,” Minho said.

 

“Minho, you answered?” Jonghyun asked, voice slurred.

 

“Jonghyun, where are you? I can barely hear you.”

 

“Please get me. I made a big mistake,” he cried into the phone, words still stumbling over each other.

 

“Tell me where you are. Calm down.”

 

“Sixth street.”

 

“I’ll be there. Wait for me?”

 

Minho grabbed his coat and car keys, running downstairs. He waved to his mom telling her he’d be back later and not to wait up for him. He got inside his car and sped off to downtown sixth street. Damn Jonghyun had to get himself into some sort of trouble and call Minho, his current ex, to save the day. All Minho really could think of was how much he would rather be trying to study or sleep right now.

 

~*~*~

 

Jonghyun sat there, waiting for Minho like he was told. He was sure the last four shots he took were unnecessary, but he still felt the overwhelming guilt of this whole situation even after all that alcohol. He couldn’t catch a break could he? All he wanted to do was start over senior year and do things the right way, but it was nearly over. He had ruined his last year of high school playing with the heart of a boy he actually came to like.

 

A group of girls came up to Jonghyun who was seated on the curb and began to flirt with him, placing their hands all over him. He called for them to stop, but they didn’t. They kept violating his space, making him feel like the trash he was. He tried to push them off, but it was no use. He had given up trying to get them off him when a deep voice demanded they leave. Jonghyun looked up and saw Minho emerge into his line of view as the girls ran off.

 

“You...came?” Jonghyun asked.

 

“Of course I did. Let’s go home,” Minho grumbled offering his hand, a taste of disgust on his voice.

 

Jonghyun took it, leaning heavily on Minho as they began to walk to the car. Minho made sure he was secure in the passenger seat before closing the car door and running to the driver’s seat. He began to drive back towards their neighborhoods, keeping an eye on Jonghyun the whole time.

 

“Can I ask you a favor?” Jonghyun murmured as they got off the freeway and began to drive towards Jonghyun’s house.

 

“What is it?” Minho replied, looking over to make sure the other boy wasn’t going to be sick. He reeked of alcohol so it was only a matter of time before he got sick.

 

“Can I stay at your house? I can’t let my mom see me like this. She won’t let me ever come back home again if I show up like this now.”

 

Minho debated silently with himself, cursing not so quietly as he kept driving. When Jonghyun’s street came up, he debated on turning, but his gut told him not to. Sighing, he continued to drive a few streets over and arrived at his house.

 

Helping Jonghyun in, they entered the quiet house, making sure not to wake up anyone who was asleep. Minho lead Jonghyun into his bedroom and closed the door. Jonghyun sat on Minho’s bed, face hidden in his hands, body shaking. Minho sat next to him wrapping his arms around him in an embrace. Jonghyun’s red eyes looked up at him tears falling from them.

 

“What...what did I do to deserve to meet you?” Jonghyun sobbed. “I’ve been so bad.”

 

“Shh, just don’t worry about it. Let’s get some sleep,” Minho cooed, trying to calm down the smaller boy.

 

“I need to tell you something,” Jonghyun whined, staring up at Minho.

 

“It can wait for tomorrow, can’t it?”

 

Before Jonghyun could object, Minho slowly pulled his shirt off, gently tugging at the hems of Jonghyun’s before the blonde complied and allowed Minho to slip his shirt off. Minho pulled both of them down on the bed, his long arms embracing Jonghyun close to him. The skin to skin contact was a nice change from the previous tense feelings. Minho pretended to try to sleep closing his eyes, but his mind was still racing a hundred miles per hour. He knew that whatever Jonghyun had to say wouldn’t be good, but one last night of pretending to be something was all Minho wanted. He nuzzled closer to Jonghyun, resting his face in the crook of Jonghyun’s neck, breathing in his deep scent as he drifted off into a troubled sleep.

 

~*~*~

 

Finally it was Saturday and Kibum couldn’t be any more relieved the school week was over. He had been on edge all week watching Minho nearly lose his wits every day after being slammed with tests and projects. With a box of donuts in one hand and a drink carrier with coffees in the other, Kibum rang the Choi doorbell, hoping Minho was ready for some well deserved treats.

 

“Oh, Kibum! Come in,” Mrs. Choi chirped, seeing Minho’s long time friend when she opened the door. “He’s upstairs asleep still. He went out late last night.”

 

“Okay,” Kibum replied skeptically, entering the house, and walking to Minho’s room. He was skeptical since Minho specifically said he could not come over to Kibum’s under any circumstances because he needed to study for the AP exams.

 

He opened the door slowly, ready to surprise his friend, when he noticed a blonde mass of hair in the bed. He swung the door all the way open and saw Jonghyun’s face in Minho’s bed. Kibum’s jaw fell slack as he dropped the box of donuts on the floor by his feet. Jonghyun was nestled in Minho’s bed, wrapped in Minho’s arms - naked. The bare skin to skin contact was all Kibum could see.

 

“Minho what the hell are you doing with that piece of trash?!” Kibum shrieked, running towards the side of the bed.

 

Minho opened his eyes slowly, blinking a few times before he saw what was going on. Kibum was hovering over him, who had Jonghyun in his arms. He quickly pulled his arms away from the shorter boy and sat up on his elbows.

 

“Hi-hi-ya Kibummie,” Minho stammered, trying to stay cool.

 

“Choi Minho you are naked in bed with Jonghyun. Tell me right this instance nothing happened.”

 

Minho opened his mouth to speak, but before he did he looked down and noticed that you could only see his bare chest, but his pants were well hidden under the covers. Minho looked over and Jonghyun and saw only the bare skin of his back staring back at him. Kibum was looking around at all the clothes on the floor and noticed two pairs of underwear thrown around the same general area along with two pairs of pants and a couple of shirts. There was no hope in telling him nothing happened.

 

“You did, you lying son of a bitch. I thought you guys were done for?!” Kibum scolded, storming from the room.

 

Minho got up, trying to untangle himself from the mess of blankets all while trying not to wake Jonghyun up. In the process, he fell on the floor, quickly scrambling to get up and run after his best friend. Kibum turned around to see Minho scrambling out of his room.

 

“At least you put some pants on,” Kibum scoffed.

 

“Look, it’s not what you thin-”

 

“Shut up, okay?” Kibum interrupted. “Enjoy your donuts. I’m leaving.”

 

Kibum walked out of the Choi house, leaving Minho and Jonghyun to their business. Before he realized what he was doing, he wound up finding himself at Taemin’s house, ranting to him about how they ‘shouldn’t be back together’ and how they ‘aren’t suited for each other.’ Being Minho’s best friend, Kibum knew him the best and he just knew this was not how things were supposed to be. Jonghyun was all wrong, and Kibum couldn’t watch this any longer.

 

~*~*~

 

“Let me get this straight. Jonghyun and Minho had sex after Minho broke up with Jonghyun?”

 

“That’s right, Jinki. Kibum just saw them in bed naked together after he went to Minho’s house,” Taemin explained over the phone to his senior friend.

 

“But why....Jonghyun was in the city with me last night. I knew he left, but I didn’t know he left with Choi.”

 

“I don’t know...all I know is things are getting pretty heated.”

 

Jinki sighed loudly into the phone. “I never knew it would get this far.”

 

“That plan you were yelling about?” Taemin asked, trying to pry information out of Jinki.

 

“Yeah, like Minho was just another prank. Jonghyun has only two weeks before he was supposed to tell him that it was all a joke, but now I’m not sure what’s going on,” Jinki ranted before he could stop himself. “Actually, don’t tell anyone I said that okay?”

 

“I won’t. Let me know if you need anything. Crazy crap is happening, so you need one stable friend by your side.”

 

“Thanks, Taemin.” After hanging up, Jinki opened his messages and quickly tapped his onscreen keyboards in a flurry of emotion.

 

From: Jinki

 

Get over to my house after you are done sword fighting, dick.

 

~*~*~

 

Jonghyun woke up staring at a ceiling that was not his own. He sat straight up, clutching the sheets of the unfamiliar bed to his chest, instantly regretting how fast he sat up. He grabbed his head groaning to himself. Hang over. He looked around at the room he was in and saw it was quite messy - clothes thrown here, bookes thrown there. There were posters covering the walls of various musicians and a periodic table. Where was he...?

 

He question was answered when Minho came out of a door attached to the far side of the room rubbing his hair with a towel, another tied low on his waist. He didn’t notice Jonghyun as he searched through his closet for some clothes to wear that day. He found himself an outfit, dropping his towel, to be greeted by a gasp from Jonghyun seated on the bed.

 

Minho turned around wide eyed, noticing Jonghyun was awake. Minho’s face was nearly the color of a stop sign by the time he managed to stumble into his boxers and jeans. He tried not to make things awkward by walking over to the edge of the bed to put his socks on, but Jonghyun immediately averted his eyes.

 

“Sorry,” Minho mumbled, fumbling with his socks.

 

“Are you going to put a shirt on?” Jonghyun gasped, peeking at Minho for a second before looking away again.

 

“It’s my room. If you don’t like it you can leave. Which, now that I think about it, you should leave anyways before Kibum thinks we are married, too.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Jonghyun asked, confused.

 

“He saw us in bed together.”

 

“So?”

 

“Our shirts were off.”

 

“And?”

 

“He didn’t see we had pants on.”

 

“Oh.” Jonghyun scooted a little closer to Minho, wincing as his head throbbed with every movement.  “Well what are we going to do now?”

 

“We are doing nothing together as far as I’m concerned. We are still not together in my book,” Minho declared.

 

“But Minnie,” Jonghyun whined, putting his arm around Minho’s shoulders.

 

“I don’t want to do this without answers Jonghyun,” Minho hissed, shrugging the blonde off him.

 

“What....what can I do to get you back?” Jonghyun pleaded, scooting closer once more to the fuming boy. Please, just don’t hate me. Anything but hating me, Jonghyun thought as he waited for Minho to speak.

 

Minho was about to say something when Jonghyun’s phone starting singing the ringtone they both knew was Jinki calling. Jonghyun answered the phone without thinking, but two seconds into the call, he wish he hadn’t.

 

“Kim fucking Jonghyun,” Jinki screamed into the phone.

 

“Well good morning to you too, angel. Sleep well?” Jonghyun chuckled.

 

“I know you didn’t,” Jinki sneered. Jonghyun held his throbbing temples as his headache became worse due to Jinki screaming into the phone.

 

“No I slept well besides this lousy hangover.”

 

“Then it must’ve been so rough you fell asleep like a baby.”

 

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Jonghyun asked, becoming irritated at how elusive Jinki was being.

 

“You know what I mean. You and Minho having sex after you clearly told me you were in this for just the bet.”

 

Jonghyun sat there for a moment, trying think of an intelligent response, but before his mind could function, Jinki ordered him to stop what he was doing and come over. Reluctantly, Jonghyun agreed. After hanging up, he looked over at Minho who had still not put a shirt on and nudged him a bit.

 

“I gotta go to Jinki’s right now. Kibum blabbered to him or he blabbed to someone who told Jinki because I’m in deep shit right now. I need to go clear things up, but don’t think I’m giving up on you Choi,” Jonghyun said.

 

“Gotta go clarify you did nothing with me so you can keep your high status untainted? Too good to sleep with me?” Minho questioned, twisting Jonghyun’s words.

 

“No I - Minho god that’s not what I meant. Minho I- of course I would sleep with you - I mean I wouldn’t sleep with you - I mean I would if you would allow me to. Wait. I mean what?!” Jonghyun sputtered, trying not to back himself into a corner.

 

“If you would sleep with me then why haven’t you?” Minho laughed, scooting closer to Jonghyun so their bodies were touching.

 

Jonghyun slowly got up, moving away from Minho’s bed nervously, tripping over his own shoes in the process. He hurriedly put his shirt back on and his shoes before exiting the room and the internal tension he was facing.

 

“Of course you wouldn’t,” Minho scoffed, laying back on his bed closing his eyes. “Why would you ever?”

 

~*~*~

 

Jinki and Jonghyun sat outside of Jinki’s house on the porch overlooking the pond in his backyard. Jonghyun was surprised his friend acted so coolly around his mother with how he was talking to Jonghyun earlier, but the peace was short lived. As soon as both boys were settled into the patio chairs, Jinki let it all out.

 

“I can’t believe you Jonghyun. What the fuck do you think you are doing?” Jinki began. “I thought we already had talked about this and you said you didn’t like Choi.”

 

“I don’t. This bet just got a little out of hand, but I can assure you we did not sleep together.”

 

“Are you sure? Because it sure as hell sounds like you did. I- Aish I don’t know what to believe anymore. Sometimes I think we are in over our heads with this prank. I think it would be too risky to stop now, though, since Taemin knows.”

 

Jonghyun’s eyes widened. “He knows?”

 

“Unfortunately. He swears he won’t tell Kibum, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of a few weeks before it slips out of his mouth. What we need to do is end the prank ourselves.”

 

“How? We are already broken up,” Jonghyun nearly sighed, forgetting to shade his disappointment at this moment.

 

“Get back with him,” Jinki declared.

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me. I don’t need you and him sleeping together, but I just need you guys to last one more week for prom, okay?”

 

Jonghyun gave Jinki a skeptical look. Good luck getting us back together, Jonghyun thought to himself. Minho hates me.

 

~*~*~

 

All week Minho had been avoiding Jonghyun. Their roles had completely switched. Instead of Jonghyun skipping their shared English class and hiding during lunch, Minho was nowhere to be found. Little to Jonghyun’s knowledge, however, Minho was busy taking AP exams most mornings. When he wasn’t, he was in the library, skipping classes to study for the next exam or eat after he missed lunch taking exams. Jonghyun, clueless as ever, decided to take matters into his own hands when he cornered Kibum in the hallways one day.

 

“Kibum. I need to talk to you,” Jonghyun said, trapping the boy against the lockers in the hallway.

 

“I don’t want to talk to you asshole,” Kibum spat, instantly trying to get away from Jonghyun.

 

“Kibum, please.”

 

Kibum chewed his lip, looking around for a way to avoid Jonghyun, but the hallway was empty. “Fine,” he sighed. “What can I do for you?”

 

“Can you just please tell me where Minho has been? I’ve been worried about him....especially since after the...” Jonghyun trailed off, eyes becoming a bit misty.

 

“The break up?! I don’t know what you are trying to say if you don’t use your big boy words,” Kibum sassed, before noticing how sad Jonghyun looked. He quickly added, “He’s been taking AP exams. I haven’t seen him either.”

 

With that, Kibum waltzed off, leaving Jonghyun somewhat relieved, yet still upset he couldn’t see Minho. Was the other boy even going to prom? Jonghyun wanted him to, but, deep down inside, for Minho’s sake around Jinki, he hoped to hell he wouldn’t go. It was going to be a long week.

 

~*~*~

 

Prom. The one event many high schoolers looked forward to their whole time during school. A right held for only upperclassmen and their selected dates. A day to signify the end of the year and the beginning of summer. It was the time for lovers to ask out their chosen crushes and (hopefully) get to go on a magical date forgetting about school for just one Saturday.

 

It was after AP exams and far enough away from finals that students could take a deep breath and relax. Minho, however, found nothing relaxing about Kibum bursting into his house with tuxedos and makeup in hand. It was supposed to be a quiet night in, with no one but his cat and this cheesy Netflix series, but Minho shouldn’t have expected Kibum to let him skip out on such a “huge” event in their high school careers.

 

“Why do I have to do this?” Minho groaned, as Kibum contoured his face to define his cheekbones. “I don’t even have a date, nor do I need makeup.”

 

“Hold still. I’m almost done. Yah! Don’t smear what I’ve done. We have to go to show that you are better than Jonghyun and his minion Jinki,” Kibum fussed, turning Minho this way and that as he worked on him.  

 

Minho grunted, but decided it was better to comply with his friend than try to fight him. Whatever Kibum wanted, he got. He definitely always wanted to go to prom, but Minho had never known he would actually drag him along for the crazy ride. It was nearly a half hour later when Kibum turned Minho around towards a mirror and showed him his new look. His cheeks looked as sharp as a razor and eyes were lined very dark. Minho looked at least twenty-five with all this stuff on his face. He scrunched his face a bit, but nodded, making Kibum grin softly before sitting down and beginning on his own face.

 

Minho sighed to himself, jumping on his bed, laying down, careful not to touch his face that was beginning to itch from all the makeup on it. Right when Minho was about to close his eyes and snooze while Kibum fussed, his phone chirped from somewhere in the mass of blankets and pillows on his bed, making Minho squirm around until he found the device. Minho flicked open the lockscreen to see

 

From: love~

 

I hope to see you tonight ><

I know things between us have been rough, but I still feel for you~

 

\- J

 

Minho blinked multiple times, trying to see if he was reading the text correctly. He looked over to see Kibum was still busied with his appearance in the mirror. Minho chewed his bottom lip, thumbs hovering over the keyboard, thinking of a way to reply.

 

To: love~

 

Jjong, I miss you so much. I’m so sorry I was so rude that one day. Is there anyway we could meet up tonight and talk things over, just me and you? I want to try and start things over....you were only good to me and it was wrong of me to accuse you like that v.v

 

Minho was about to hit send, but stopped, hearing his mother call from the doorway of his bedroom, wanting to snap a picture of the process of getting ready for senior prom. MInho groaned, reluctantly standing up for her and posing. Kibum, in the mean time, saw Minho’s phone about to send a forgiveness text to Jonghyun.

 

“Let me fix this,” he murmured, grabbing the device and quickly editing the text.

“Yah, what are you doing?” Minho asked after his mom left.

 

“Just googling a place that’s open after prom we can eat,” Kibum replied, flashing the search browser on Minho’s screen. Minho rolled his eyes, taking the moment to quickly pull his tux on, soon followed by Kibum. They both looked at themselves in the mirror, smoothing out the wrinkles and fixing their collars.

 

“It’s time,” Kibum said, staring at them both in the mirror. This was it. This was the last event of their last year of high school. This was basically the end.

 

~*~*~

 

They arrived an hour late, not that it really mattered. Prom never really started up until about an hour or so in anyways, because everyone acted awkward and would not touch the dancefloor until one brave soul broke the ice. That brave soul happened to be Jinki this year, shaking his body this way and that, while a less cheerful, drunken Jonghyun leaned up against the bar serving punch in the corner, watching his friend in disgust. He pulled his phone out of his pocket for the thousandth time that night, opening the device to view the text over again even though he knew it by heart.

 

From: Ho

 

I am going to prom, but I have someone better than you. Can you please leave me alone and move on already?? It’s over.

 

“Minho,” Jonghyun groaned, taking and overly large swig of his not-so-non-alcoholic punch. He was not out of it, but he was sure he was hallucinating when he saw a tall figure moving towards him through the crowd. The tall figure was hidden by the dim lighting, but as it approached, the features became illuminated and it was none other than Jonghyun’s prince. The crowd seemed to part as he neared the smaller boy hunched over the counter.

 

“Jong,” Minho whispered, finally within arms length of Jonghyun.

 

“Why are you doing this,” Jonghyun whined, softly pushing against Minho’s sternum to move him, but failed.

 

“Doing what? Did you get my text?”

 

“Of course I did, you ass,” Jonghyun spat, becoming angry.

 

“I thought you wanted to make up? Are you drunk?”

 

“I did, but you don’t so go away.”

 

“Are you drunk? I told you I was sorry,” Minho said, becoming worried as Jonghyun kept getting louder and louder.

 

“Look for yourself, Choi.” Jonghyun shoved the phone against Minho, watching as the taller boy read the text and his face turned from a confused look to pure shock.

 

“You have to believe me. I didn’t send this. Kibum must have when my mom was taking pictures. Jonghyun I love yo-”

 

“Look who it is,” a voice sneered through a microphone from behind Minho cutting him off. Minho turned around to see Jinki up by the DJ, microphone in hand staring down a gap in the crowd at Minho and Jonghyun. Everyone was staring at them and Minho had never felt so small in his life.

 

“What are you doing?!” Jonghyun yelled, storming through the crowd towards Jinki. “Don’t do this.”

 

“Why not?” Jinki laughed into the microphone. “This was the plan we agreed to.”

 

“We never agreed to me falling in love,” Jonghyun hissed.

 

“That’s what we are calling it now? Saving his feelings is ‘falling in love?’ Well let me tell you all a little story. You see my friend Jonghyun is an asshole as am I. You all know that, we know that, Choi knows that. Nothing new there, right? Well, you see, we wanted to end senior year with a bang, a big joke.”

 

“Looks like you failed,” some guy yelled from the back of the crowd, getting everyone to snicker.

 

“But that’s what you think,” Jinki smiled, waving off the comment. ”As I was saying, we wanted to go big senior year. You see our lovely friend Choi Minho over here. Yeah, I asked Jonghyun to ask him out as a joke and take him on these ridiculously corny dates and watch Minho fall deeper and deeper in love with Jonghyun.”

 

“Jinki,” Jonghyun growled, but was ignored.

 

“You see, your little perfect prince Jonghyun was using you, Choi Minho. It’s funny how easily you fell for him. Do you even think you are in his league, honestly? You are lucky to even be in the same room as him, let alone the same city. Face it, Choi, you two aren’t meant to be. This was all one big fat joke.”

 

The room erupted in murmurs that drown out into full out laughter. The whole senior class was laughing at Minho and all he could do was try to fight back the tears. Minho pushed through the crowd, trying to get to the bathroom, but found it difficult as people tried to stop him and ask him questions if he knew about the prank or if he was upset.

 

“Minho,” a familiar voice called out. “Minho, please!”

 

Minho finally reached the other side of the crowd, tears fully falling as he walked towards the lobby of the venue away from the crowds.

 

“Minho, please,” Jonghyun cried, grabbing his arm and spinning him around. “Listen to me for a minute.”

 

“Why should I?” Minho screamed. “I was humiliated in front of our entire graduating class because you thought it would be fun to pretend to like me and drag me along to just dump me like this. Which, by the way, we were never back together.”

 

“Because it was wrong that I was using you as a prank at first, but honestly Minho I didn’t know anything about you before, but now I know that you love sports and would rather spend your days reading a book than partying. You really enjoy eating pizza, but also love a great slice of cake. Minho I truly like you, a lot. Please, I’ll do anything.”

 

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Minho choked.

 

“Huh?” Jonghyun grunted, sounding confused.

 

“Were you or were you not ever going to tell me the truth before things got out of hand?”

 

“I wanted too, but I didn’t know the right time...”

 

“The right time was when we started ‘dating,’” Minho hissed, putting air quotes around the word dating. “Goodbye Jonghyun. Have fun in college.”

 

Jonghyun watched Minho walk away. He didn’t try to stop him. He didn’t try to run after him. He just did nothing, but stand there in that same spot until Jinki tried to coax him back inside. Jonghyun would never forget that horrible moment in his life - his first heartbreak.

 

~*~*~

 

Jonghyun was now going to college. It was his dream college he had visited before he graduated high school. It was everything he could ever hope for. He was doing well in all of his classes and was enjoying pursuing his chemistry major. One could say all was well after all the childish drama that fills high school. That was the case until Jonghyun saw a certain tall brunette hand-in-hand with a bitchy blonde coming his way one day in the local coffee shop by the campus. He was just trying to study, but they appeared.It was probably the only thing that could turn Jonghyun’s perfect world upside down - Kibum and Minho dating while he had to sit and watch. What a day to get some coffee, Jonghyun thought to himself mentally slapping himself.

 


	2. Mon Cœur S’ourve à Ta Voix

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who read this and subscribed/upvoted. It was really an honor sharing my story with you guys! I really hope you enjoyed it and the plot of the second part made sense with the first. If you have any questions feel free to comment. Also, my friend suggested I do an onkey spin off from this fic. What would you guys think of that? Would you want an onkey spinoff that takes place during the story, after the story, or not at all? Let me know ^^

Freshman year of college was a time of change and new experiences in the foreign world of young adulthood, or, so Minho had been told. He didn’t really see a difference between university and high school besides the fact that many of his classmates lived on campus like himself. He still found himself struggling to make new friends as he and Kibum tried to hang out as much as possible before the workload separated them.

 

Minho was a molecular biology major whereas Kibum was studying interior design. They were on completely opposite sides of campus once their classes began, but that wouldn’t stop their friendship, or, Minho hoped it wouldn’t. Ever since the drama at the end of his high school career, Minho became the most unfavorable person to know, but Kibum stuck by him until the end and here they still were.

 

“I can’t believe classes start tomorrow,” Kibum whined as they stood in line at the local student cafe to buy themselves lunch.

 

“It’ll be okay, Kibum. It could be worse. You could be a science major,” Minho joked, elbowing Kibum softly in the ribs.

 

“Yah! It’s not my fault you chose the hardest major besides math to pursue. Your stupidity isn’t my fault.”

 

“It will be when my paycheck is covering your design flaws.”

 

Kibum was about to slap Minho across the face when the cashier called for Kibum to order his food next. He ordered, Minho following, soon forgetting about the difference in their majors when they sat down with trays full of food. They ate together in silence until Minho looked up, a white streak catching his eye that he did not want to believe he was seeing.

 

“Oh my g-god,” Minho sputtered, hiding his face under his ballcap, shoving food in his mouth quickly.

 

“What is it? Minho? What is it-”

 

“Shut u-up, Kibum,” Minho hissed under his breath.

 

“What did you say? What the hell is going on? Why can’t you look up?” Kibum asked, confused and not following Minho’s lead.

 

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Kibum I forgot,” Minho whispered hurriedly.

 

“What is it?!” Kibum sighed, obviously annoyed at this point.

 

Minho quickly dared to glance up, catching a glint of that pearly white smile shining against that tanned skin and felt his stomach churn. How was he feeling this way still? Why was he feeling this way still? He couldn’t? He would never.....would he? Minho was becoming more confused with himself by the minute

 

Finishing his meal as quick as possible, Minho sped off to the trashcan, leaving Kibum confused and slightly frazzled. Minho ran outside, clutching his chest for a moment as he finished chewing before he looked back. Minho had gone undetected this time, but how could he be so unlucky to see him even if they were going to the same school? There were so many other students, without proper planning, it was hard to run into the same person twice, let alone the same person who ruined your life. Minho groaned to himself as he began to worry. He had remained undetected this time, but what about the next time? With a cluttered mind, he began wandering towards the dorms, searching for a distraction from the boy he had been trying to avoid all summer.

 

~*~*~

 

An angry Kibum burst through the door of Minho’s small dorm room, without a knock or a hello before he started yelling.

 

“Minho what the hell was that?!” Kibum yelled loud enough to wake up the whole floor.

 

“Hello again to you too, Kibum. How nice of you to join me in my dorm unannounced,” Minho said from behind his laptop screen as he surfed the web.

 

“Oh please, Minho. You love me. You never answered my question though....what was that back there?!”

 

Minho sighed loudly, closing his laptop, tossing it aside before saying, “Don’t laugh, but I saw Jonghyun and freaked out.”

 

“You more than freaked out. You ate your food in less than a minute. Are you sure this is going to be healthy for you? What is he even majoring in?”

 

“I don’t know. Should I just phone him and ask him out for tea while I’m at it?! I haven’t talked to him since that joke. I didn’t plan on seeing him here even if I knew he was going to this university. It’s not my fault I only got into this school.”

 

“I guess you are right, but why are you overreacting? Didn’t he say he loved you even after the joke ended? Oh, whatever. You are too good for him.”

 

“I guess so...I just still get really sad and I hope I just don’t see him again.”

 

“First loves are the hardest,” Kibum sighed.

 

“Especially when you can’t get over them,” Minho mumbled, curling his knees up to his chest so he could hug them. Kibum walked over to his friend and embraced him, sitting next to him until he felt comforted.

 

Minho could tell this was going to be another long year. He was sure he wasn’t ready for this again.

 

~*~*~

 

Class started promptly at 12 o’clock noon for Minho, him deciding to take classes later in the day rather than early in the morning. He was never a morning person and hoped the allowed sleep in time would help him be more rested for his mood and his classmate’s sake.

 

The class that would start off today was entry level biology for science majors otherwise called Molecular Biology. It was the first of many science classes that Minho would have to take with a lab attached one way or another. He was excited all the same, ready to tackle a class pertaining to his major. When he entered the class, there were already a few students clustered together towards the center desks, happy talking and gossiping about how their summers had been. Minho assumed they already knew each other and, by the looks of it, had been in college longer than he had. It was his first day after all and they looked in their early twenties.

 

Minho decided to stay away from the already formed cluster and took a seat in the far back corner, slouching in his chair, listening to his iPod while he waited for the professor to enter class. He watched one by one as the students filed in, taking their seats, some talking loudly, some avoiding eye contact, some falling straight asleep.

 

The professor came in, making his way to the front of the class, a stack of syllabuses in one hand, an overly large textbook labelled ‘Campbell Biology’ in the other. He walked up to the podium in front of the lecture hall, setting his things down and briefly introducing himself and mentioning a billion and one times how he had a doctorate in genetics. Minho was just about to start tuning him out until he handed out the class requirements when the door swung open abruptly next to Minho. In walked a platinum prince, walking to the center aisle of the lecture hall, looking for a spot to sit.

 

“Nice of you to show up. Please take a seat quickly Mr...” the professor began.

 

“Jonghyun,” he eye smiled, trying to charm the professor.

 

“Mr. Jonghyun. Next time don’t be late or it will be points off your grade,” the professor said sternly before returning to his lecture about his academic achievements and successful research projects.

 

Jonghyun looked around briefly once more spotting the only empty seat - next to the one and only Choi Minho. Minho glared at Jonghyun as he took the seat next to him, both of them hesitating for the slightest second as Jonghyun got as comfortable as the situation would allow. Minho tried to focus on the professor now, but felt a pair of eyes on the side of his face. He wanted to look, but Minho knew in his best interest he shouldn’t.

 

That never stopped him before. It didn’t stop him now. He glanced over for a brief second, catching Jonghyun’s gaze for the tiniest second, making his heart melt into a gooey liquid similar to a cytoplasm. If he had looked any longer, Minho was sure he would have melted completely, pooling on the floor where no one could see him blush and cringe under the spell Jonghyun still had him under.

 

The rest of the class was filled with untold amounts of tension. Both boys were constantly pretending the other didn’t exist or were doing the complete opposite and staring uncontrollably at each other. Even after a huge falling out at prom and a summer apart, the two boys felt for each other. Even after all the bitterness and regret, they still remembered the laughter and happiness they felt when they were together.

 

When class finally let out, neither got up, hoping the other would leave first. Jonghyun awkwardly scratched his neck, clutching his backpack strap closer to his shoulder. He smiled a small smile, melting Minho’s heart for the second time that day.

 

“So, Minho,” Jonghyun began, letting the words fall off his tongue as he stared at the boy across from.

 

Minho however, stood up abruptly, slamming his chair in against the desk while muttering something about having to leave, leaving Jonghyun alone and confused in the classroom.

 

~*~*~

 

Kibum and Minho agreed to meet up in Kibum’s dorm, clear across campus on the art side of the college to reflect on their first day together. They hoped they wouldn’t be separated too much, since they were best friends after all.

 

Kibum was excited to see Minho, ready to tell him all of what happened during his day to every single detail, but Minho’s little encounter with Jonghyun earlier that day left him grumpier than usual. Nonetheless, Kibum rambled on a hundred miles per hour about how he made new friends who were the same or similar majors as him and how he couldn’t wait for this term to really start.

 

“You know I really, really want to try that smoothie place by the performing arts center. What about you Minho? How was your day?” Kibum paused and looked over at his friend who hadn’t made a sound during his whole story. Something was off. “Choi, what’s wrong?!”

 

Minho sighed, shoulders heaving up and down as he did, while he stared at his feet and continued to ignore Kibum. It’s not that he didn’t want to listen to Kibum’s stories, but Minho’s mind was in other places...the past to be precise.

 

“I’m not going to leave you alone until you tell me so you might as well just spit it out,” Kibum said, tapping his fingers on his cheek as he rested his head on his palm. Reluctantly, Minho sat up and gathered himself to tell Kibum about his day.

 

“I went to Biology today right? No big deal? Well guess who came to class late and sat right next to me?” Minho sighed, hoping that he didn’t sound pathetic for reacting this way.

 

“That hot ass guy who speaks like a million languages, Taecyeon?!”

 

Minho stared at Kibum, confused. “What?”

 

“Nothing!” Kibum burst out. “I mean...who was it?”

 

“Jonghyun.”

 

“Oh. I thought it was someone attractive,” Kibum murmured, earning a punch to the shoulder from Minho.

 

“This is serious Kibum,” Minho whined, looking down at his feet again, hiding his flushed cheeks.

 

“We are on this again!? Why don’t you just get over him? He’s not even that hot,” Kibum nagged. “You’ve been hung up on him for so long and you guys dated, but that turned out to be a big fat lie.”  

 

“Jeez, way to put it nicely.”

 

“You know I didn’t mean it that way,” Kibum defended as Minho shot him a glance. “Okay, maybe I did mean it, but still. I feel like you could do so much better Minho. There are so many guys who would date you in a heartbeat and treat you so much better than he did.”

 

“He never treated me terrible....it was mostly Jinki.”

 

“Keep telling yourself that sweetie. Don’t let him bring you down anymore.”

 

“Kibum,” Minho sighed, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

 

“No,” Kibum said, grabbing Minho’s arm. “I’m tired of seeing you torn over him. I’m not going to let you go through that again so I can clean up the mess he leaves behind.”

 

“What if he has changed?”

 

“What if he hasn’t?”

 

Minho laid back on the bed they were sitting on, swinging his feet on the side of the bed, covering his eyes with his hands. He didn’t want to think about these feelings anymore, but he couldn’t help himself. Maybe this crush was far too intense if it was just a one sided thing. Maybe Kibum was right...

 

~*~*~

 

Jinki lived off campus. There was a sense of freedom of having your own apartment that dorm living did not provide. The fact that the dorms were on the campus made it feel as if he was still being baby sat with amenities offered in dorm life that are not offered in the real world, whereas the apartment offered a sense of freedom he did not have living on campus or at home. Jinki was his own boss when it came to how he ran his life for the past month and he was loving it.

 

This new way of living was beginning to have a set pattern. That’s why when the doorbell rang as Jinki settled down on the couch after his first day of college, he became puzzled. Reluctantly, Jinki got up and shuffled his way over to the door peering through the peephole to see none other than Jonghyun waiting for the door to be opened.

 

“I didn’t remember telling you where I lived,” Jinki stated opening the door.

 

“You didn’t. Your mom did,” Jonghyun beamed, taking a step in, waiting for Jinki to move.

 

Jinki allowed him to enter, moving just enough so he could pass before closing the door. Remind yourself to yell at her later, Jinki thought to himself. He watched Jonghyun walk around the connected living room and kitchen, admiring the amount of space Jinki had in his apartment compared to the on campus dorms.

 

“Wah, this place is so nice and spacious. We should’ve been roomies!”  Jonghyun concluded after searching down the hallway, inspecting the two bedrooms and bathrooms.

 

“How about no because I don’t need to see you that much,” Jinki grunted, flopping back down on the couch. “Why did you come?”

 

“Well, I have some bad news and some good news.”

 

“What’s the good news?”

 

“There’s a really hot guy in my biology class.”

 

“What’s the bad news?”

 

“His name is Choi Minho.”

 

“What?!” Jinki shrieked, nearly lunging off the couch at Jonghyun as he sat up.

 

“Also I forgot to buy the textbook for chemistry and that class is in an hour,” Jonghyun continued, unphased by Jinki’s reaction.

 

“Shit, forget chemistry, Jonghyun. We are in deep shit. This is like high school all over again, but this time Choi already knows what went on.”

 

“Well of course he knows what went on and I admit I really fucked up. We both did. We pulled a prank on him and I assumed he was a loser, but now I regret it all...you know better than anyone what I did after that night at prom.”

 

“The part where you wouldn’t stop crying while you puked all night long from all the alcohol you drank or the part where you punched me and said you never wanted to see me again because I ruined your relationship?”

 

“Both. Both are relevant. Mostly the crying though,” Jonghyun chuckled awkwardly avoiding Jinki’s glare.

 

“Uh-huh. I see. Well we are still somehow friends. To be honest you should’ve told me you liked the kid before I made that huge scene,” Jinki noted for the hundredth time since the incident.

 

“Like I said before: I really fucked up.”

 

“Well is he still angry?”

 

“Yes, of course he is.”

 

“How do you know? Did you talk to him?”

 

“Well not really...I started to talk to him...”

 

“Well how the hell do you know if he’s mad if you didn’t talk to him?!” Jinki interrupted, shaking his head at his friend.

 

“I was going to tell you if you’d let me finish,” Jonghyun sassed, glaring at Jinki. Jinki sat back further into the couch pretending to lock his lips and throwing the key away. “Thank you. As I was saying I started to talk to him and then he got up and like ran away slamming the chair into the desk really hard. I’m sure I heard him mutter he had to leave, but I think I was just humoring myself so I didn’t feel as bad.”

 

“You probably were humoring yourself, you big goof.”

 

“What am I going to do Jinki?” Jonghyun whined, shaking his friend back and forth by the arm.

 

“I’d say hope nothing terrible happens between you two and try to get him back.”

 

“Let’s knock on wood. Oh shit, gotta go to chemistry. Come visit me though, yeah? Not too good for me now that you’ve got your own place right?”

 

“I suppose,” Jinki sighed, sprawling out on the couch once Jonghyun got up. “It is a hard life, being an undeclared major apartment owner and everything. I’ll have to plan you into my schedule.”

 

With one last roll of his eyes and a smack to the side of Jinki’s head, Jonghyun was jogging out the door back to campus to hide out in the science labs for the rest of the night.

 

~*~*~

 

Speech class had to be more of an irrelevant prerequisite required for nearly every major than the white crayon was in a pack of crayons. Kibum was nearly falling asleep listening to the lecture over how speaking was important in everyday interactions. It was literally a course repeating the same information over and over again on a skill everyone already possessed. Speaking was not a secret only shared with the upper class, so why Kibum had to take a speech course for an arts major, he did not understand.

 

Kibum was nearly about to doze off again when his phone vibrated with a text from Minho asking if he was bored out of his mind yet and wanted to join him in the food court. Already the second day of classes and I’m skipping, Kibum thought to himself as he quickly, yet quietly shoved his belongings into his bag and walked out of the classroom. What Minho didn’t tell him was what food court he wanted to meet at. There were multiple food courts spread throughout the campus since it was a massive campus and students got hungry frequently.

 

Without really knowing, Kibum walked towards the one nearest to his speech class, and ordered a bowl of noodles, hoping Choi would show up soon, too. He didn’t, however, leaving Kibum alone, staring down an enormous bowl of noodles. He began slurping away, headphones in his ears, off in his own little world.

 

From a nearby table, Jinki looked up from his textbook after staring at it aimlessly for god knows how long. Across the dining room, he saw the blonde eating his bowl of noodles alone, listening to music. Maybe Choi is coming to meet him, Jinki thought to himself. Wouldn’t they have already been together, though? He’s eating all alone.

 

Before thoughts could be processed, Jinki gathered his belongings and found himself seated across from Kibum, staring expectantly at the boy. Kibum peered up through his long eyelashes to be shocked by his new companion. Jinki smiled at him softly waving from across the table.

 

“Can I help you,” Kibum sneered, looking around for Jonghyun. “I don’t think your little puppy is around.”

 

“Who? Oh, I’m not looking for Jonghyun,” Jinki chuckled.

 

“Why are you here then? Come to ask me out as a prank too? Well sorry, but I’m not as soft hearted as my best friend. You can leave now.”

 

“No, I wasn’t going to ask you out as a joke, Kibum. That’s high school. This is college.”

 

“Is it? Because I’m seeing the same old drama already starting back up,” Kibum scoffed, resuming eating his noodles.

 

“Oh you heard about their biology class, too?” Jinki asked before being shot down by Kibum’s daggered gaze. “Okay, of course you did. Sorry.”

 

“You should be.”

 

“Why do you hate me so much? I never did anything to you.”

 

“Never did anything to me?! Ha! You ruined my best friend’s love life and self esteem through your friend and I was the one who had to pick up the pieces. I still am. I’m getting tired of it, but I still take care of the mess you made. You should be more than sorry to me Lee Jinki.”

 

“I shouldn’t be sorry to anyone, Kim Kibum,” Jinki mocked, pretending to be angry like Kibum.

 

“I don’t have time to sit here and listen to you talk shit,” Kibum spat, standing up quickly, knocking over his leftover broth in the process.

 

The liquid raced across the table and all over Jinki’s sweater before either of them could react. In an instant, Kibum went from anger to apologetic, grabbing a wad of napkins from the dispenser nearby and rushing over to blot Jinki’s clothes. As Kibum worked on getting the liquids out of his sweater, Jinki smiled to himself, watching the other boy fuss over how the sweater was going to be ruined. Jinki placed a hand over Kibum’s shaky one whispering it was going to be okay. The blonde looked up into Jinki’s eyes, making eye contact for a brief second, looking down quickly at their hands, before pulling himself away from Jinki, blushing.

 

“I-I gotta go. I’m sorry,” Kibum apologized, before grabbing his bag and running off.

 

His legs carried him all the way across the courtyard connecting the performing arts and design buildings until he stopped in a scenic garden area, taking out his phone. He had a text from a minute ago.

 

    From: Minnie

 

Let’s eat in the food court by my dorm. I don’t feel like walking far.

 

“Asshole,” Kibum cursed, trudging on his way to meet Minho.

 

~*~*~

 

Minho was overly excited for the time that intro biology was allowed to start labs. Labs meant hands on experience in the field he was aspiring to enter. Labs meant practical applications of the lectures he had leading up to them. Labs meant he got to get down and dirty. Labs did not mean get permanently paired with Jonghyun.

 

It wasn’t an accident, but it wasn’t entirely on purpose. Jonghyun had shown up late to labs after lecture because he took too long in the bathrooms, finding the only seat left was next to Minho in a lone lab table situated in the back corner of the room. Minho shot Jonghyun a don’t-you-dare-sit-there glance, but Jonghyun was already in a hurry to sit himself down in a chair before the professor noticed he was late for the second time in a row. Sighing, Minho just let it be and tuned into what they were supposed to be listening to.

 

“Now as you know the lab entails not only being able to accurately perform experiments, but also display the ability to work as a team. Take a look to the one or two people at your lab table and say a nice little hello to your lab partners for the rest of the term. If you have any problems please speak now,” the professor explained, looking around the room.

 

Minho opened his mouth to speak, but felt Jonghyun’s hand cover his mouth. Jonghyun had a look of plea on his face, silently asking Minho to not say anything and, against his will, Minho kept quiet.

 

“Alright, that’s it for today then,” the professor said, dismissing class.

 

Minho got up and packed his things quickly, tossing his bag over one shoulder, taking long strides towards the door. Jonghyun had to scramble on his shorter legs to catch up with the taller boy who was already exiting the room before he could even properly zip his bag. Rushing, Jonghyun caught Minho in the back stairwell used by only a few students. Minho towered over him, being a few steps above Jonghyun who had jumped in from of the brunette to get his attention.

 

“Can we talk?” Jonghyun huffed, trying to catch his breath as he looked up into Minho’s annoyed gaze.

 

“What’s there to talk about?” Minho sneered, trying to walk down the stairs again, but was stopped when Jonghyun leaned against the wall with his arm, completely blocking the pathway.

 

“About us. About what happened. About whatever you want. I haven’t talked to you since high school.”

 

“I was hoping to leave it that way. If you don’t mind I would like to be going on my way. Exams are coming up and my future is far more important than your petty feelings,” Minho nearly hissed, almost instantly regretting the words coming from his own mouth.

 

“That was a low blow Minho. I really fucked up, but I want to start over. I really care about you,” Jonghyun plead, trying to keep Minho from completely leaving him.

 

“It’s too late for that.”

 

“Why?”

 

“I’m....I’m dating Kibum.”

 

Jonghyun blinked a few times, silently thinking about what Minho had just said before he burst out laughing.

 

“You...dating...Kibum?! That’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard,” Jonghyun gasped in between laughs.

 

“It’s not funny,” Minho defended.

 

“You’re right...it’s hilarious. Good one Minho. I’ll let you go this time, but only ‘cause you are so cute,” Jonghyun chuckled, wiping a tear from his eye as Minho finally passed him, jogging the rest of the way down the stairs.

 

Jonghyun leaned against the railing, sighing contently to himself as he listened to the soft pitter patter of Minho’s feet walk away, happy that he got to at least talk to Minho again.

 

~*~*~

 

“We’re dating,” Minho declares, walking into Kibum’s dorm, unannounced as usual.

 

Kibum turns around with the most elated, yet confused look on his face. “Oh?”

 

“We are dating....at least around Jonghyun. If that’s okay.”

 

“Sure?” Kibum half questioned, still a bit confused. “What’s this about all of a sudden?”

 

“Jonghyun wanted to start things over, so..”

 

“So isn’t that a good thing?” Kibum interrupted, still confused. “I thought you wanted to get back together with that slob or something.”

 

“Why would I let him get to me so easily again, though? Like you said, I could do better,” Minho stated.

 

“Ahh, you are learning, Minnie,” Kibum cooed, pinching Minho’s cheek.

 

“Stop,” Minho pouted, pushing Kibum away. “But thanks, for you know, this. You only have to pretend when Jonghyun is around so it shouldn’t be so burdensome on you.”

 

“Alright.”

 

“I should probably go study now, but I’ll see you around, Kibum.”

 

Kibum waited for Minho to leave before rolling over on his bed sighing out in frustration. Why was this happening to him, Kibum thought to himself. If he had wanted to pretend to be Minho’s boyfriend as revenge, he would’ve suggested to do so the minute Minho said Jonghyun was back in his life. Love wasn’t a game and Kibum had a sick feeling in his stomach about messing with Jonghyun’s feelings.

 

~*~*~

 

Exams. The first round was coming up and every student of every major began feeling the burden of college on their shoulders. Students filled the library and study halls overflowing into student lounges and park benches, as they tried to cram as much of the information they were have supposed to learn thus far into their heads.

 

Jonghyun was among these students, hiding himself up in the local coffee shop, just off campus with a stacks of notebooks tucked under his arms and a debit card in the other. The barista called him forward, a smile plastered on her face.

 

“What can I get you?” she chirped, clicking some things on the register screen.

 

“Uh, how about a caramel latte?” Jonghyun replied, hesitantly handing her his card.

 

“Is that all?” she asked, despite having already taking the card.

She swiped in all the same, returning the card back to him. “Can I get your name?”

 

“Jonghyun.”

 

“Your order will be right up,” she smiled, ushering him to the drink waiting area.

 

Jonghyun idly waited, watching another barista pump out drinks, handing them out one by one. Finally, he called Jonghyun’s name, pushing a light brown drink across the counter. Jonghyun grabbed his cup and sipped a bit before spotting how they slaughtered his name on the cup. ‘John-hyung.’ Pouting, Jonghyun settled himself in the far corner of the cafe, spreading out his work materials.

 

At first, his attempt was working, revising slowly as he went through stacks of notes and lab exercises. Soon, however, Jonghyun couldn’t concentrate, from lack of sleep, boredom, or possibly both.

 

He decided to people watch, pushing his notes aside, sipping his drink a bit too fast as he reviewed his surroundings. There were a bunch of students scattered through the cafe, all studying or sipping away. The door swung open, a small set of bells jingling to welcome the newcomers. Jonghyun looked up and saw Kibum enter the building, followed by Minho. They were walking over to the counter, but something was off. Minho was holding Kibum’s hand. Kibum was holding Minho’s hand. They were holding hands.

 

Jonghyun watched as they walked to the counter and placed their order, whispering to each other occasionally as the same girl that served him swiped Kibum’s card. Jonghyun frowned, sipping his drink nearly empty in frustration watching the scene play out in front of him. The two moved over to the waiting area, Kibum tucking a strand of Minho’s hair behind his ear. Minho chuckled, hiding his face a bit from view. They collected their drinks and walked out, swinging arms a bit.

 

“Well, shit,” Jonghyun muttered to himself, sucking the straw so hard, he only got air in the now empty cup, making an obnoxious amount of noise, drawing attention to himself. “Why is this happening. Fucking Minho. I didn’t think he was serious. What the hell am I supposed to do now?”

 

Jonghyun began revising, his mind racing a million miles per hour. How could this happen? I’ve been having a great time in college, but now I have to worry about this unnecessary competition for Minho, Jonghyun thought to himself. And with Kibum? Of all people? How do I compete with Kibum? Kibum and Minho were already so close, there was no telling how long they’ve felt for each other.

Without realizing it, Jonghyun had sped read through all of his study materials already, half aware of what was going on. He started over, trying to distract himself from the scene that had just played out revising once, twice, three times before he found himself drinking another latte and revising some more. Jonghyun kept reading over the materials, over and over, until he knew the pages verbatim.

 

It was nighttime now. Jonghyun  had  been studying since the early afternoon and now had learned the material better than his professor probably had hoped anyone would ever learn it. His eyes were strained and his mind was still wandering over Minho’s current dating situation. With a final sigh, Jonghyun packed up and drifted towards his dorm room, feeling like he was detached from his own body.

 

Feelings were hard, especially when they weren’t attended to.

 

~*~*~

 

Walking down the halls idly, Minho and Kibum avoided their responsibilities, enjoying the scenery of the campus. They were having a great time, chatting and goofing around until Minho saw a certain blonde that made his stomach flop. Quickly, he laced his fingers with Kibum’s becoming instantly attached to the other’s hip. Minho pretended to be completely infatuated with Kibum, but today Kibum wasn’t playing along. His face was ghastly and his eyes were drooping.

 

Kibum looked up at his friend, his best friend, and sighed, trying to put on a good smile for his sake. He was becoming tired of seeing him hurt, but Kibum was also tired of hurting, himself. It was tiresome, watching after yourself and the boy you cared so fondly for, both shattering and chipping a bit each day, breaking down so there was barely any happiness left - just fake images of people they once were.

 

Jonghyun walked by them, a glimmer of sorrow flashing across his face as he eyed the two boys holding hands passing by him the opposite way. It had been a long first semester and with winter break almost there, Jonghyun was hoping for a bit of sanity to come back to him, leaving this place called school. It should’ve been called emotional hell - the workload, the financial debt, and the heartache were all weighing on him, tearing him down. Jonghyun was tired - tired of the lies, tired of the guilt, tired of the work, tired of nothing paying off.

 

All three of them passed each other, eyeing the other party like a predator eyes a prey. The boys looked as if they were about to pounce on each other, claws clashing, teeth snarling. If they had tails, they would be twitching angrily, hackles raised.

 

When they were far out of each others reach and around the corner, Jonghyun slumped his shoulders and dragged his feet on trying to think of other things, Minho let his hand slide out of Kibum’s, and Kibum awkwardly rubbed his neck trying not to overstep his bounds. Today was different though. As Minho’s hand started to slide out of Kibum’s, Kibum grabbed his hand firmly, not bothering to lace their fingers as he turned Minho towards him. Minho looked at him, his large eyes wide with questions. They were a nose apart. Kibum leaned in, closing the space between them, kissing Minho’s lips gently.

 

“Wha-?” Minho gasped pulling back. “J-Jonghyun isn’t here?!”

 

“But I am,” Kibum replied, staring down at the ground, rubbing circles on the back of Minho’s hand that was surprisingly still resting in his own.

 

“We don’t need to pretend now,” Minho chuckled, pulling his hand from Kibum’s.

 

“I’m not pretending, Minho. Can’t you see anything or are you as blind as everyone else?”

 

“I- Kibum what? Are...are you crying?”

 

Kibum looked up, eyes red and blurred with tears. “I can’t do this Minho. I’m sorry. I care too much to just pretend. Being friends was one thing, but you are doing to me what Jonghyun did to you and you still want him. Think about someone other than yourself for just a minute.”

 

Minho watched as Kibum walked away, clutching his bag tightly to his shoulder, hunching over so no one could see the tears seeping from his eyes. Now that Minho was once again ‘single’ he didn’t know what to do. Once again, life was borderline a television drama and it only seemed to be getting more and more confusing.

 

~*~*~

 

Winter break had come and gone, only two days remained before class resumed again. Students were slowly showing back up at school, ready (as much as they could be) to take on the second semester of that school year. Unfortunately for the students housed in the older buildings near the center of campus (including Minho) there was no housing to come back to. The school decided that they were going to do some much needed construction on the water pipes in the oldest dorm complex, but they had not completed it yet, thus making the complex unlivable due to no running water.

 

Each student got assigned a new dorm with a roommate. Minho read the small slip of paper and found luckily enough he got assigned the dorms next to the science buildings. He walked down the long winding halls until he located room 408. Turning the key and popping the door open, Minho was surprised to find another bed already set up for him in the small room. Another sat beside it completely unmade and messy. Minho chuckled to himself, placing his belongings on the neatly made bed, examining the other side of the room while his new roomate was nowhere to be found.

 

The walls were lined with various music posters of both male and female artists alike. The desk was scattered with textbooks varying from biology to chemistry all the way over to art and design. The closet was overflowing with nice clothes and a few pictures of a girl and an older woman lined the bedside table.

 

Nodding silent approval, Minho laid out on his bed, vowing to put his things away later. He took out his biology book, propping it up on his knees and began reading the small text over how cells produce energy and how many carbons are in each step of beginning stages of cellular respiration. Without much warning, however, his eyelids began to flutter shut and Minho was fast asleep within a matter of ten minutes.

 

The door clicked open not long after, the previous sole owner of the room wandering inside. He looked down at the boy fast asleep on the bed beside his own and sighed. It was some sort of cruel destiny always bringing them together like this wasn’t it? Jonghyun thought to himself, pulling a blanket over the lengthy limbs sprawled on the small twin size bed.

 

Jonghyun sat down at his desk, sorting through the mess of assignments, checking over his shoulder every once in awhile to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The soft breaths coming from the sleeping form behind him served as a comforting background noise, allowing him to study at a steady pace, knocking out all of his assignments in only a few hours.

 

Stretching, Jonghyun got up and began getting comfy, ready to settle into lounging mode for the rest of the day when Minho began to stir. Jonghyun looked over expectantly at the brunette only to be disappointed when he saw a deep frown plastered on Minho’s face.

 

“Really?” Minho’s deep voice croaked, giving Jonghyun a once over.

 

“Are you really going to start already?” Jonghyun sighed.

 

“I wish I could just forget...”

 

“We could start over...like I said we could.”

 

“Wouldn’t that be the solution to all our problems?!” Minho spat, getting up.

 

“Huh?” Jonghyun asked, confused.

 

Minho walked out, however, leaving Jonghyun alone in his room, the dorm becoming too quiet.

 

~*~*~

 

Walking into a local diner, Minho seated himself along the long bar, propping himself on the stool and leaning on the long counter. There were a few other men and women scattered around the diner, all eating the oddly delicious yet cheap diner food or reading the paper, keeping to themselves. He signaled to the waitress to come over and take his order.

 

She took it down, disappearing behind the swinging kitchen doors to inform the cook back there that a new order had been placed. Minho sat there, waiting quietly to himself, fuming still on the inside. He was just about done dealing with Jonghyun, feelings so twisted and conflicted, he couldn't tell what felt right anymore. Fists balled up, he hit the counter beneath him and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

 

“That bad, huh?” a taller man chuckled, sitting next to Minho.

 

“I suppose so,” Minho breathed. He continued hitting his fists on the underside of the counter as he waited until a tanned hand grabbed his own and made him stop. Minho looked up at the other man to see him smile warmly, rubbing the back of Minho’s hands with his thumbs.

 

“I can’t have your pretty hands hurt, now can I?” he muttered, unclamping Minho’s fingers. “That’s better isn’t it?”

 

Minho nodded, at a loss for words towards this kind, charming stranger. The food came out, the smell distracting Minho from the man seated next to him for a moment as he dove in for the first few bites.

 

“What’s got you so wound?” the stranger asked, sipping his coffee he had ordered in the time Minho had begun to chow down.

 

“My ex,” Minho said between bites.

 

“Is she bothering you again?”

 

“He is being the typical player he is. He is trying to get me back after he went out with me as a joke back in high school,” Minho sighed, feeling a bit uncomfortable disclosing this information with the handsome stranger.

 

“Are you and your ex freshmen?”

 

“Mhm. I just entered last semester. I’m a molecular biology major.”

 

“No way! I thought you were at least a junior! I’m a senior in genetics.”

 

“That’s actually really cool,” Minho stated, finishing off his food.

 

“I’m Taecyeon, by the way,” the stranger added, extending his hand.

 

“Minho. Nice to meet you.”

 

“We should get together sometime, y’know when your ex doesn’t have you wound up. You seem like a nice guy.”

 

With an exchange of numbers, Minho left the diner feeling full of food and full of new opportunities.

 

~*~*~

 

Kibum had done a lot of thinking over the winter break about his feelings for Minho that were never going to be returned as long as Jonghyun was alive and well. It was time to move on, Kibum had decided, making himself readily available to other prospective partners. He had called Minho up and, after an awkward conversation with the all confused Minho, he asked him to be his wingman at a local club just off campus.

 

“I thought you liked me or something?” Minho muttered as they walked up to the doors of the club, IDs handy.  

 

“Shut up before I regret talking to you again,” Kibum sassed as they were allowed entrance to the club.

 

The outside night world and the nightclub world were completely different. Once entering the building, blaring music greeted them, drowning out their previous conversation. The dim lighting made it harder to see and the flashing lights of the dance floor made Minho’s head hurt a bit. They made their way over to the bar, flagging down the bartender for a couple of drinks.

 

“What can I get you?” the young woman behind the counter asked, expertly flipping her hair behind her ear.

 

“I’ll have a shot of tequila,” Kibum said, motioning for Minho to answer next, but Minho seemed to be elsewhere. “He’ll have a shot, too.”

 

Before Minho found out Kibum had ordered him a stronger drink than he had intended drinking, the bartender was back, two shot glasses in hand, taking the money willingly out of Kibum’s hand.

 

“Bottoms up,” Kibum said, handing Minho the shot glass, snapping him out of his daze.

 

Minho reluctantly took the drink, downing it all in one go with Kibum, setting the empty glass on the hard bar top. He looked back longingly at the man dancing coolly to the music and wondered what his name was.

 

“Whatcha looking at?” Kibum asked, batting his eyelashes at his friend.

 

“Nothing.....let’s get more shots,” he muttered, flagging down the bartender who had already guessed they would want more.

 

Two more rounds and half a beer later, Minho found himself grinding up against that cool man, dancing worse than him, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was his body was rubbing up against his and he seemed to be enjoying himself. His voice was deep and smooth, intoxicating Minho far more than any alcoholic substance could. If Minho hadn’t known better, he would’ve thought the voice came from an angel sent down from heaven to cure him of his troubled times.

 

It wasn’t long before Minho was hunched over the man, hands dangling around his neck, bodies still pressed together. Minho wasn’t a big drinker and the amount of alcohol in him was making him feel dizzy, but not nauseated. He just needed to sit down or lean on this man for a minute, but the music was still pumping and the man kept dancing despite Minho leaning on his front half. He pulled Minho’s chin up, so they were looking face to face with each other. His warm eyes crinkled up into a mischievous smile before he swooped his head down and smashed their lips together in a sloppy kiss. Minho inadvertently moaned into the man’s mouth, whining slightly when he pulled back.

 

Minho dragged the man nonetheless to his dorm afterwards, which was empty to his complete convenience. They made out for some time, touching each other under their shirts, feeling each other’s presence. Minho felt himself wavering in and out, dozing off during parts of this intimate affair, until he completely passed out in the man’s arms.

 

~*~*~

 

Jonghyun walked down the long hallways of doors branching off into random dorms after a long night studying in the campus library. He reached his dorm door, ready to unlock the door, but found it swing open without his key. Weird, he thought to himself, looking left and right before entering the room.

 

Inside the dimly lit room, he could see Minho’s figure curled up against another man. Jonghyun dropped his things on his bed, shaking his head over and over again. Why Minho, Jonghyun thought to himself, thinking of what he was supposed to do in this sort of situation. Normally, roommates would have some sort of signal to each other to tell the other that they are having someone over for the night so the other roommate doesn’t intrude. Not only was it awkward for Jonghyun to walk in on Minho and his one night stand, or possible boyfriend, but he was also Minho’s ex. Exes typically don’t want to see their previous partners like this, especially the way Minho still swayed Jonghyun.

 

Quietly as he could, Jonghyun picked his things back up off his bed and exited the dorm. He got out his phone and thumbed down the list of contacts until he found Jinki’s name and pressed call.

 

“Hey,” a sleepy voice huffed from the other line. “Is everything alright? It’s nearly one in the morning Jonghyun. We have class tomorrow.”

 

“I know. I’m sorry to wake you up, but can I stay with you tonight?” Jonghyun sniffled, trying to force the lump that was forming in his throat back down.

 

“I.....sure? Are you crying? Jonghyun, what's wrong?” Jinki asked becoming more alert.

 

“It’s Minho, Jinki. He has another boyfriend.”

 

~*~*~

 

The next day, Minho woke up in a tangle of limbs, some his own, others belonging to the man who was in his dreams. He sat up, eyeing the man through a dizzy spell from all the alcohol the night before. He was tanned with dark hair and looked quite familiar.

 

“Uh,” Minho mumbled, poking the man next to him. “Who are you?”

 

“That’s the worst morning after wake up I’ve ever heard,” the man chuckled into the sheets. “You really were drunk weren’t you?”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“We’ve met before. You told me all about how your ex was bothering you.”

 

“Taecyeon?! I.....wait,” Minho sputtered, lifting the sheets to get a better look at his face. Sure enough, it was Taecyeon, the mysterious stranger who waltzed into his life just as suddenly as he had left...or so Minho had thought.

 

“What are you alarmed I held up my end of the bargain wanting to get together?” he pouted, sitting up in the small bed.

 

“I didn’t think this was your interpretation of hanging out,” Minho hissed between his teeth.

 

“What this wasn’t fun?” Taecyeon teased, pressing Minho further.

 

“I don’t sleep with random guys with nice smiles for fun!”

 

“You think I have a nice smile?” Taecyeon asked, batting his eyelashes.

 

“Shut the fuck up, and get out.”

 

Minho got up and began getting ready for the day at school, remembering today he had a lab today which meant he was going to be around Jonghyun all day. Now, thinking about it, Minho noticed Jonghyun wasn’t in the dorm. Minho frowned, jumping up and down to slide his skinny jeans up a little higher above the band of his boxers. He grabbed his bag and Taecyeon’s arm in one collective sweep across the room and forced himself and the other man out of the dorm locking it. Without a second look back at the senior, Minho walked off towards lab.

 

~*~*~

 

“This shit need to stop,” a voice boomed, scaring Kibum who was currently trying to take a quick nap between classes.

 

“Jesus, Jinki, don’t come up at me like that when I’m trying to sleep,” Kibum scolded, scooting over so the other boy could join him on the bench.

 

“Why would you wanna sleep out here anyways? Don’t you have a dorm somewhere around here you could go to? You don’t want to ruin your complexion.”

 

“Please,” Kibum sighed, pushing aside Jinki’s concern. “What were you hollering about that was so important to wake me up?”

 

“This shit of Jonghyun and Minho tip toeing around each other is really starting to drive me crazy. It has almost been a year since prom and they obviously still feel for each other a lot......like a lot a lot. No one is joking around this time, but they are both too stubborn to get together.”

 

“You act as if I don’t know,” Kibum teased. “You are right though. They need to have a quick make out session and get back into that couple thing they had going, no matter how weird it was.”

 

“Yes, but how will we get them into the same room without a fight, a need to sleep, or a lab grade to earn?” Jinki pondered aloud.

 

“What if we set them up?” Kibum offered.

 

“What do you mean? Like a blind date?”

 

“Yes, exactly. You tell Jonghyun to meet you at some place and I’ll bring Minho to that place at the same time and we will ditch them and make sure they get together.”

 

“That sounds perfect! And they won’t suspect anything.”

 

“Exactly,” Kibum beamed, happy his idea worked.

 

“Kibum you are a genious!” Jinki exclaimed, pulling Kibum into a hug, pecking his cheek.

 

“Hey, hey! Get those lips off my perfect complexion!”

 

“Alright, drama queen. Text me the time and the place and this plan will roll,” Jinki said, getting up and leaving Kibum with a new pep in his step.

 

It was time to end the madness.

 

~*~*~

 

“Jonghyun.”

 

“Yes, Jinki? Why are you calling me?”

 

“Want to go out to eat after class?”

 

“Sure where?”

 

“Oh, you know....there’s this new place I saw. It’s called 24 Diner. Wanna go there?”

 

“Sure. You paying?”

 

“Of course. See you at five.”

 

~*~*~

 

“What do you need that you are calling me in the middle of lecture, Kibum?”

 

“I wanted to know if you wanted to come eat with me later.”

 

“Sure, sure. Where?”

 

“24 Diner at five?”

 

“Sounds great. No leave me be.”

 

~*~*~

 

Kibum and Jinki looked at each other after they both had hung up their phones a week after their original plan-get-Jonghyun-and-Minho-back-together meeting. There was nothing to do now, but wait an hour for the two to wander over. They had already set up the accommodations and set up the reservation for the same table under both of their names depending on who showed up first. It was easy to sway a hostess to abide by their every word, especially when Jinki flashed her a hefty tip.

 

“So this is it then?” Jinki asked.

 

“What is it?”

 

“This is the last time you and me get together to get them back together.”

 

“We hope,” Kibum says, emphasizing the word hope.

 

“I’ll kinda miss their crazy antics, but then again I really won’t.”

 

“Is Jonghyun ugly when he cries?” Kibum asked, trying not to laugh.

 

“Well he doesn’t get any better looking.”

 

“He wasn’t that hot to begin with.”

 

“True,” Jinki laughed. “What about Minho? I feel like he’s a real sissy when things don’t go his way. He’s very meticulous about the things that go on around him.”

 

“He like can’t function. When they first broke up, like that summer, I had to help him basically get out of bed and put clothes on. He was such a hot mess it wasn’t even funny.”

 

At that moment, the door to the restaurant swung open and Minho walked in. He looked around and located the hostess who greeted him courteously. Kibum and Jinki immediately covered their faces with their hats and menus, pretending to be just another pair of bystanders.

 

“I’m here with Kibum....Kim Kibum,” Minho said to the hostess.

 

“Oh! Of course. He hasn’t arrived yet, but I can lead you to your table in the mean time,” she replied cheerfully.

 

“Alright,” Minho agreed, following her to a table situated just a bit off from where Kibum and Jinki were.

 

Kibum looked over his menu at Jinki and caught his eye, smiling at the other boy. Their plan was working - Minho didn’t suspect a thing.

 

The door clicked open again, this time allowing a blonde to enter the premises. He was greeted by the same hostess who led him to the table Minho was seated at. Jonghyun stopped abruptly in his tracks and looked to ask if the hostess had made a mistake, but she was already back at her podium greeting more guests. Reluctantly, Jonghyun sat down.

 

“What are you doing here?” Minho hissed, acid in his voice.

 

“What are you doing here? Jinki invited me,” Jonghyun explained, trying to calm Minho down unsuccessfully.

 

“Strange, Kibum invited me and the woman sat me here. I suggest you two find yourselves another table.”

 

“What if this was a set up? We do need to talk aft-”

 

“Talk about what?!” Minho interrupted. “Don’t sit with me.”

 

“I’m already seated. It’s too late. Besides, we need to talk. Whether you like it or not we are still roommates and we should at least be on talking terms. You don’t even have a conversation with me anymore without raising your voice.”

 

“Well I’m still really angry, Jonghyun. Try to put yourself in my shoes. Wouldn’t you feel hateful towards me if I had done that to you? Everyone thought I was a joke. I couldn’t come to school the end of my senior year without someone slamming it in my face that my feelings are nothing but a joke.”

 

“I know, Minho. I fucked up. I’ve said this countless times to countless people. I realized now that it was the worst thing I could’ve done to you, but you have to understand by the time Jinki wanted to reveal the joke I was head over heels for you. My heart was in it.”

 

Jinki and Kibum looked at each other, before looking back at the two, anticipating their next move. Everything was laid out on the table now, but how would Minho respond?

 

“I...I guess I understand that now,” Minho replied, looking down at his hands.

 

Kibum and Jinki silently cheered to themselves, giving each other soft high fives. That was, until Minho continued.

 

“But I’m not ready for a relationship right now,” he finished.

 

“Bullshit,” Jonghyun said.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You heard me. I said bullshit Choi Minho. You had no problem bringing home some man the other night, but what’s wrong with me? I’m not good enough since I don’t want to offer you a one night stand? Do you just not want to commit? Why are you so goddamn difficult? I’m putting myself completely out there now and you don’t even want to work with me. Why do I even expose myself for you anymore?”

 

“Jonghyun....that was an accident. I was completely drunk. Taecyeon and I are nothing.”

 

Kibum choked on his drink at the sound of Taecyeon’s name and Jinki’s jaw fell slack, Jonghyun remaining upset over the situation. This was the first time any of them heard that Minho had slept with Taecyeon. Not only had Minho slept with a random guy, that random guy happened to be an extremely attractive and talented senior.

 

“Why are we getting them back together when Choi banged Taecyeon?” Jinki half whispered to Kibum who shrugged, scared to open his mouth in fear he might scream, still in disbelief that Minho had actually done that.

 

“I guess my tears and heartbreak are nothing too,” Jonghyun said coldly.

 

“What? What do you mean tears? You weren’t even home that whole night!”

 

“I came home, but left when I saw you....like that....with him. I couldn’t do it, Minho. I can’t see you with anyone else. It’s too painful. Do you know how hard it was for me when you and Kibum were dating?!”

 

“As if that was real,” Minho scoffed, waving his hand around. “That was to get you jealous.”

 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Jonghyun spat. “You are making me feel like shit because I pretended to be with you, but you did the same to your own best friend? How does this make you any better than me?”

 

“It doesn’t. We both were wrong, but that doesn’t change anything.”

 

“That you are a ridiculously difficult person to be with and its no wonder why no one likes you let alone wants to be your friend.”

 

“Take that back, Jonghyun!”

 

“Take back the truth? I think not. I have a party to go to...I don’t have time for your shit anymore Minho. Find another dorm to stay in. This is over.”

 

Jonghyun got up and left Minho alone at the table. Minho was fuming, tears coming out of his eyes as the scene that just happened settled down in the diner. Jinki and Kibum sat quietly off in the distance, wondering if now would be a bad time to intervene. Before any party could make a move, the waitress came out with two entrees previously ordered by Kibum and Jinki.

 

“What is this?” Minho asked, in between sniffles.

 

“Your meal sir. It’s already been covered, so feel free to enjoy it,” she replied sweetly.

 

“I think you have the wrong table,” Minho said, getting up and exiting the diner.

 

The waitress looked at Jinki and Kibum shocked. They ushered her to bring the food over to their table since they had already purchased it. She set it down, slightly bowing her head apologetically before she ran off.

 

“So.......” Kibum began looking at the food in front of the two of them.

 

“Eat up,” Jinki urged, handing Kibum a pair of chopsticks. Kibum took them hesitantly, their hands touching for a second, before they both drew their hands back blushing.

 

“Sorry, Jinki,” Kibum mumbled, shoving some rice into his mouth, chewing it quickly.

 

“You are never a problem, Kibum.”

 

Jinki looked up, smirking, a slight blush coloring both of their faces. At least two of the four were happy tonight.

 

~*~*~

 

The party was loud and obnoxious, filling up the whole common floor of the dorm shared by the two angered lovers. Neither of them knew the other was there, too infuriated from the fight earlier to even think of the other. If Minho had tried to even find Jonghyun while he was still sober, it would’ve been near impossible since the blonde was sulking in the darkness of the corner of the room.

 

Alcohol found its way into their systems, clouding their judgement, numbing the pain they inflicted on each other. It was only a matter of time before Jonghyun stumbled out of his hiding place and dragged himself to the room he called home. There, he sat on the edge of his bed, knees held tightly against his chest, head hanging low, thinking.

 

The last two years of Jonghyun’s young life had not gone the way he had planned. He had never wanted any of this hatefulness to take place. It was never his intention to hurt Minho with the mindless pranks his teenage mind thought would be hilarious. No, he felt horrible.

 

He felt horrible when he thought of all the ways he could’ve changed the events that had taken place. He felt horrible when he heard the door click open, allowing a drunken Minho to stumble in. He felt horrible when the taller boy kneeled in front of him, batting his eyelashes in a super cute way no one could resist. He felt horrible when their lips met in a sloppy kiss.

 

Jonghyun felt like shit, but that didn’t stop him from removing Minho’s clothing, piece by piece, abandoning his own outfit in the process. It was scum like himself who would allow themselves to get over a breakup this way - out of their mind drunk. It didn’t stop Jonghyun, though. It didn’t stop Minho either. Jonghyun could tell, he too, was conflicted, but neither of them seemed to mind when Jonghyun had engulfed Minho’s entire length in his mouth, bobbing up and down to some unknown rhythm.

 

Head throbbing, Jonghyun soon found himself underneath Minho, the taller boy’s mouth tracing invisible patterns across his bare chest. Small moans escaped Jonghyun’s mouth, egging Minho to continue on. Jonghyun’s mood hit an all time low when he felt himself being filled by Minho’s cock. Even as Minho thrust deeper and deeper into him, Jonghyun felt sorry for all the heartache he had caused the other boy. Behind the lust driven eyes, Jonghyun could see the sadness the other felt. No matter how much he was enjoying himself in the present, Jonghyun could not let himself fully accept the pleasure he was receiving. It wasn’t fair to Minho that it had to happen this way under the spell of alcohol. Even with all this guilt filling Jonghyun, he still wouldn’t stop Minho. He was still the selfish high school boy who dated Minho for his own selfish reasons, so why stop now.

 

~*~*~

 

The sun broke through the curtains, dawning upon a new day. Minho moaned a bit, wiggling side to side, feeling a bit of a hangover, but nothing major. Jonghyun rustled next to him, wrapping his arms around Minho’s waist pulling him closer, still in a peaceful sleep. Minho smiled at the shorter boy, stroking his hair gently until he awoke from his slumber.

 

“Hey,” Jonghyun croaked, his signature goofy smirk cracking across his face.

 

“Hey,” Minho whispered back, caressing Jonghyun’s cheek.

 

“Look I’m so sorry Minho. I hurt you so much and I don’t deserve you. I know we were drunk and I can’t take back anything that happened, but you don’t have to stay around and become ruined because of me anymore.”

 

“But I want to.”

 

“What?!” Jonghyun asked, confused. He perched himself on his elbow and looked down at Minho.

 

“I want to,” Minho repeated, a small smile spreading across his lips.

 

Jonghyun smiled back at him, leaning down, placing gentle kisses on Minho’s plump lips. They embraced each other, comfort falling over the both of them for the first time in a long time. Together, they watched the sun rise through the window, wrapped up in each other’s arms.

 

“I guess this means I have a question for you, Mr. Choi,” Jonghyun finally said, breaking the silence.

 

“What’s that?” Minho asked.

 

“Will you be my boyfriend?”

 

Minho smiled, planting a soft kiss on Jonghyun’s lips snuggling closer to him before whispering a soft yes. The door opened, Minho remembering neither of them locked it the night before in their drunken states. In came Jinki, followed by Kibum.

 

“So you two made a huge scene at the diner and walked out to come here and have sex?” Kibum exclaimed, pointing towards the two in bed. Jonghyun and Minho looked at each other shrugging a bit.

 

“We didn’t plan this. Alcohol did,” Jonghyun explained.

 

“It seemed to be effective,” Jinki said, chuckling a bit.

 

“So did our scene,” Minho beamed, pointing at Jinki and Kibum’s interlocked fingers.

 

Kibum tried to hide it, turning bright red, while Jinki turned to stone - no emotions showing at all. Minho and Jonghyun laughed at the two, finding it funny they were being so reserved when they were the ones naked in bed. Kibum quickly dragged Jinki out of the room, their hands still laced together. Minho turned the Jonghyun and wrapped his arms around his neck, kissing him once more, this time more passionately than before.

 

“Even with all the ups and downs we’ve had, I want you to know I’ve loved you this whole time,” Minho whispered, when he pulled back from the kiss. Jonghyun smiled at his boyfriend, feeling a little bit better than he had the night before about the whole situation.

 

“I love you, too.”

 

 


End file.
